


Fly High

by ElektraElentari



Category: BAE173 (Band), Cravity (Band), DRIPPIN (Korea Band), H&D (Korea Band), Produce 101 (TV), Produce X 101 (TV), UNIQ (Band), UP10TION, VICTON (Band), WEi (Korea Band), Wanna One (Band), X1 (Korea Band)
Genre: Aged Up Wanna One, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Coming of Age, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, High School Drama, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Romance, Slice of Life, Tournaments, Volleyball, basically x1 are a high school volleyball team, ive seen too much haikyuu, other minor background relationships - Freeform, this is an anime
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:48:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 80,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22145146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElektraElentari/pseuds/ElektraElentari
Summary: "Other schools... They call us butterflies. They say we only shone once and that was it.""We'll show them then! We'll show them that we're more than butterflies. We're a phoenix rising from the ashes!"
Relationships: Kim Wooseok | Wooshin/Lee Jinhyuk
Comments: 78
Kudos: 73





	1. Spring Breeze

**Author's Note:**

> I usually complete stories before I post them so I can update regularly, but I wanted to post this one while X1 were still a group and with all the good news we'd been getting I was feeling optimistic. Today's news crushed me and I can't stop crying, but if I can give One Its one thing to make them happy on this hard day, I'll do it. I'll continue to support the boys no matter what. I hope you enjoy this story. I don't know when I'll update, but I'll put my all into this story.

“We’ll be okay, Wooseokie, you’ll see.”

Kim Wooseok sighed as he watched his teammates slip into their uniforms and start stretching.

It was the last tournament of the year, the last chance their team had to make some sort of name for themselves. They’d been training hard all year for this, especially after the winter tournament had seen them going back to their school after only one match empty handed and ashamed of carrying the responsibility of the male volleyball team. They’d made up their minds then, that no matter what, they were going to bring a trophy back to their school.

Wooseok couldn’t even count how many hours of sleep and studying they had lost, desperate to prove themselves. They’d trained until their legs couldn’t carry their weight anymore, until their arms had gone numb from getting hit by volley balls and they were covered in sweat from head to toe. All to lead them to this day, this very moment.

He stared down at the walking boot around his leg, resisting the urge to both cry and rip it off in frustration.

Three weeks ago, he had sprained his ankle, and the doctor had told him that he was not to do any strenuous activity for at least six weeks, which meant no volleyball, no tournament. The worst thing was that it hadn’t even happened during a training session, but when he had been running to catch the bus to school. He had cursed himself for his stupidity for days, with his teammates desperately trying to reassure him that everything was going to be alright, that they would practice with him in mind and think about him during the tournament.

It had done nothing to improve his mood, but he had at least accepted it, weeks later. That’s why he felt a pang of jealousy as he watched the boys in their blue and white uniforms get ready for their first match of the day.

“I should be standing on the court with you,” he said, sadly.

“Hey, none of that,” Woojin reassured him, “You’ll be moral support. God knows we could really use someone cheering us on from the bleachers.”

It was a little sad, how their own school had given up on them. Most, if not all, other high school teams in Seoul had earned some sort of achievement at some point, except for them. Wooseok remembered joining the team a year ago with Seungwoo and Seungyoun, all three of them enthusiastic about turning the tables and showing everyone else that it didn’t matter that they didn’t come from a legendary school, that they could still beat top teams, only to find out that no one believed in them anymore.

The only thing that had hurt more was when he’d seen Yohan and Hangyul go through the exact same thing the year after.

The older club members had welcomed them warmly, it wasn’t their fault in the slightest. And that was why Wooseok was so disappointed that he wouldn’t get to play with them one last time before they graduated. They’d treated them so well, it was the least he could do.

“I just really wanted to play with you again,” he muttered, but Jihoon heard him.

“And we want you to take care of your injury,” he scolded the younger, “We’ll be just fine. Daehwi will cover for you and we’ll do our best.”

“I want to be useful, though,” Wooseok sighed.

“I mean, if you want to do something so badly,” Seungyoun said, smirking, “You can refill our water bottles.”

“I never said that I wanted to be your minion,” Wooseok rolled his eyes, “Just that I wanted to play in the game as a member of the team.”

“Team members help each other out,” Hangyul said, “And I need help filling my water bottle.”

“Fine,” the shorter boy groaned and let his team members give him their water bottles. He noticed Seungyoun and Hangyul high-five each other behind his back and made a mental note to spit in theirs before he returned them.

He left the changing room and went in search of the nearest drinking fountain. He thought that he remembered seeing one on their way not that long ago, and he really hoped that he wasn’t wrong.

\---

He was wrong, very wrong in fact.

Apart from the fact that Wooseok had never been to that particular gymnasium, he also didn’t have the best navigation skills. It also didn’t help that most of the students and coaches who were walking down the same corridors as him were a lot taller than him or just too enwrapped in some sort of conversation to notice him. He had already tried asking for directions, and that had gotten him nowhere. At that point he was just hoping he would make it back to the changing room on time before any matches began.

Just then, he saw an open door. It didn’t take him long to figure out that it was a bathroom, and he almost walked away before the temptation kicked in.

Yes, the thought of toilet water was disgusting enough on its own, but it wasn’t all the water from a bathroom that was disgusting, right? Just the one that came from the actual toilet. Tap water, on the other hand, was pretty clean. He’d seen people run straight to the bathroom and turn the tap on, gulping down water at the speed of light, after a match, and nothing had happened to them. Besides, the guys didn’t have to know the water had come from the bathroom, it could be a dark secret that he would take to the grave.

He decided that he was a horrible human being, and started walking towards the bathroom, when a body crashed into him, sending them both to the ground and causing Wooseok to drop all the water bottles he’d been carrying.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” the person who had caused the disaster said, starting to pick up the bottles before they rolled away.

Wooseok would have helped, but he had landed on his bad leg, and was in severe pain, so he just grit his teeth and tried not to let his frustration show.

“Oh my God you’re hurt!” the other boy exclaimed, panicked, “I’m so sorry. Do you need a doctor? Can I help?”

“I’m fine,” Wooseok managed to say, “Just landed a bit badly.”

“I’m still really sorry,” the other kept apologising, standing up and offering his hand to help Wooseok up, which only resulted in him dropping some of the bottles he’d tried so hard to pick up and carry on his own.

Before he could start apologising again, Wooseok picked them up and got up on his own. “It’s okay,” he reassured the other, “It was just an accident.”

He let himself take a good look at the boy in front of him.

He was taller than him by quite a bit, with a strong build which suggested that he was an athlete, or at least exercised quite often. And judging by the fact that the only tournament the gymnasium was hosting that day was the volleyball one, he must be a player for one of the schools participating.

Contrasting his body shape, the boy’s features made him look kind and friendly, a look of worry evident on his face as he stared at the boot around Wooseok’s leg. He looked quite handsome, even making the smaller boy’s heart skip a beat when he saw him.

“Thank you for your help,” he said, offering to take the rest of the bottles so that he could get them filled and back to his team.

The other boy figured out what he wanted to do and shook his head. “I’m not letting you do this on your own,” he said, “You’re hurt and besides, I have to make up for running into you.”

“You don’t, it’s fine,” Wooseok argued, “I’m not that hurt either. I can carry a few water bottles.”

He hated people seeing him as weak or incapable of doing things just because of his injury, so the other’s words frustrated him. He’d always been one of, if not the shortest member in his volleyball teams, and was often targeted as the weakest player because of it, so that had created a strong will to prove himself inside of him.

However, sometimes it lead to him being too defensive in situations where he didn’t need to be, just like this one.

The other boy looked a little taken aback by his behaviour, and Wooseok felt guilty. He’d only wanted to help, there was nothing wrong with that.

“Sorry,” he said, admitting that he was in the wrong, “I was rude when I didn’t need to be.”

“It’s alright,” the boy forgave him, “I guess we’re even now.”

“I suppose we are,” Wooseok agreed and smiled.

“I still don’t mind helping you, though,” the boy insisted, “You probably have to be somewhere and I’m just hanging around.”

“I’m just looking for a water fountain,” Wooseok said, deciding not to mention the fact that he had been about to give his teammates bathroom water.

“Oh, there’s one just near the entrance,” the boy exclaimed, “It’s not too far. I can show you if you want.”

Wooseok agreed, and the two of them made their way through the gymnasium, the taller boy leading the way.

He’d been right, the water fountain wasn’t very far away and Wooseok felt relieved to finally be able to accomplish what he’d set out to do. He was sure that his teammates would tease him for taking too long when he got back, so he started thinking of an excuse they would believe. Running into a cute boy and getting distracted in front of a bathroom definitely didn’t sound convincing enough.

The other boy did help him fill all the water bottles and even offered to walk him all the way back to the changing room, making Wooseok feel like a schoolgirl with a crush. The boy was becoming increasingly charming as time went by and Wooseok was beginning to worry that he might just develop a puppy crush on him after barely ten minutes of knowing him.

Only Wooseok entered the room, handing each of the boys their bottle, telling Seungyoun and Hangyul that he’d spit in theirs for causing him to get lost while looking for a fountain, to which they only laughed. At least the others seemed a bit more grateful.

Their coach, a bored gym teacher who usually just told them to do their thing during practice hours while he smoked and scrolled through his phone, knocked on the door almost immediately after and told them that they should get ready for their first game, instructing Wooseok to go to the audience’s seats, since he couldn’t sit on the bench if he wasn’t going to play.

He hated being reminded of that, but he agreed, wishing his team members good luck and hugging them all individually and leaving with a final ‘fighting!’ shout.  
To his surprise, the other boy was still outside the room when he left. He had expected him to go back to his team, but here he was, leaning against the wall and typing on his phone. As soon as he heard the door open, he looked up and put his phone away when he saw Wooseok come out.

“All good?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Wooseok nodded, “I didn’t think you’d still be here.”

“How come?” the boy asked.

“I uh,” Wooseok stuttered, “I assumed you must be a volleyball player, so you might be in one of the teams playing today.”

“I am,” the boy nodded, “I’m not playing today though.”

“Oh,” Wooseok said surprised.

“My brother wouldn’t let me,” the boy provided a bit more context, which only confused Wooseok further.

“Is your brother your coach?” he asked.

“In a way,” the boy replied, “You could say that he is.”

Wooseok decided not to pry any further, since it was obvious that he was uncomfortable talking about it. Whatever it was, it wasn’t Wooseok’s business and he respected that the other might want to keep it to himself.

“Should we go then?” the boy asked, gesturing towards the entry of the gym, “Unless you want to go alone.”

“No, I don’t mind going with you,” Wooseok was quick to argue. Call him lame, but this boy was cute and sweet, he wasn’t going to let go of him that easily.

They didn’t talk while they left the changing room area and entered the gym, crossing the courts and heading for the bleachers. The mere sight and smell of the room made Wooseok ache to play again, he really couldn’t wait for his ankle to get better.

They picked seats at the front row, so that they could have a good view of everything.

“So you’re here to support your school?” the boy asked Wooseok once they had made themselves comfortable.

“No,” Wooseok answered, “I’m in the team. I just can’t play because… Well, I think you can tell why.”

He could tell why the boy would think that he was at the game just for support, so he didn’t take those words to heart too much. He was, after all, the only person from their school who was there apart from the team themselves (some of the past members of the team had wanted to come but had been unable to due to busy schedules and university), and he was also shorter compared to most players and not dressed in a uniform to show that he was a part of a team. He had tried to blend in a bit by wearing a royal blue sweater which matched the colour of their school, though.

“Oh, sorry,” the boy quickly apologised, “I didn’t mean to assume again.”

“It’s alright,” Wooseok said, “Appearances can be deceiving.”

The two shared a look and laughed at his comment.

Wooseok’s expression quickly turned serious as he saw his team walk through the doors, as well as other boys from other schools. Within seconds the gymnasium filled with the colours of each team’s school uniform, making the atmosphere cheerful, despite the competitive spirit each team was giving off.

The cheer teams for each school started shouting slogans and encouraging words, all of them blending into one sound.

Wooseok stood up and yelled his team’s name, causing them to look up and wave at him with huge smiles on their faces. He waved back.

“Fighting!” he shouted as loudly as he could. He knew that it probably wouldn’t even reach their ears, but he wanted to do something for them if he wasn’t going to play.

He turned and saw the boy who was sitting next to him smiling fondly. He knew that he should feel embarrassed for going into cheerleader mode in front of someone he was, to a certain extent, trying to impress, but he really loved his team and wanted them to do well. He knew that they were worth a lot more than their school thought of them and he prayed that they would get to show that this time.

“What position so you play?” the boy next to him asked.

“I’m the setter,” Wooseok answered.

The boy looked impressed. “The setter is an important part,” he said, “You have to know about the team well and coordinate everyone with the leader.”

“I know,” Wooseok said, “I’ve been with some of my teammates for two years now and some for one, but I still feel like we’re a great team. We communicate well and I try to help them as much as I can. Daewhi-hyung was the main setter before me and he’s the one playing today, and he taught me really well. I hope I can be like that too someday. What about you?”

“I’m a wing spiker,” the boy replied, but just like talking about his brother, he looked like he didn’t want to elaborate any more than that, leaning back and looking down instead of at Wooseok, so the shorter boy didn’t push him to do so.

It was at that moment that the referee blew his whistle and Guanlin served first for their team. Wooseok turned away from the boy, his gaze fixed on his team, fists clenched around the metal bar in front of the stands. “Come on,” he muttered, “Come on.”

They won their first game, and Wooseok’s voice went hoarse momentarily from cheering so loudly, yelling their names and bouncing lightly without jumping properly so he wouldn’t hurt his ankle, probably gathering more attention than any of the cheer teams were, but he didn’t care because he was so happy for them. They’d already gotten further than the winter tournament and he hoped this victory could give them the willpower to move and progress even further.

His team gathered in a big group hug, jumping around in circles without breaking it to celebrate. They had to be ushered off the court by the referees so that the next game could take place.

Wooseok may have spilled some fond tears, but no one needed to know that.

His anxiety returned when the next game started. The boy he’d met was still with him, this time standing next to him and leaning over the metal bar as he watched the game.

Wooseok didn’t know that team well, but he did know that they were a fairly well-known one. They were from Bonyang High School, a rather prestigious private high school, which wasn’t that far from Wooseok’s school. Because of their location, the two schools had a history of being rivals. He hadn’t played against them, his team had always been sent home before getting to, but he remembered old members like Daniel and Seongwu saying that they had and that they had been a very strong team and very hard to beat. He was a little disappointed that he didn’t get to play against them himself this time, but at least he could observe them and see if he could figure any techniques out that they could incorporate into their practices.

Hangyul served first this time, and the game began.

Straight from the get-go it was obvious that the Bonyang team was a lot more experienced than theirs. They could easily predict their moves, even when Wooseok’s teammates tried to distract them and fake attacks. Their spikers were powerful, and their serves precise, never hitting the net or landing outside the court. They won the first set easily, and Wooseok hoped that it hadn’t killed his team’s spirit.

Twenty-two minutes later, Bonyang High School scored 25 points on the second set and won the game.

There was nothing Wooseok could say against them, they’d won fairly, and they’d been good players with lots of experience. That didn’t mean that the loss hadn’t left a bitter taste in his mouth though. He’d wanted his team to win and go far more than anything, and it sadly wasn’t going to happen.

He watched as his team members shook hands with the Bonyang boys with sad expressions, congratulating them on their win, and made their way back to the changing rooms.

He turned around to say goodbye to the boy he’d met and who had kept him company because he wanted to go to his team as soon as possible.

“You should go to them,” the boy said before Wooseok had had the chance to utter a single word.

“Thank you,” he replied, “I hope your team goes well.”

“Thanks,” the boy said, “You guys played very well.”

They bowed to each other and turned around, each one going his own way.

Wooseok wasn’t sure what he was going to find when he entered his team’s changing room, but it certainly wasn’t the awkward silence that had engulfed all ten boys inside, including himself. They all looked up when they heard the door open, their faces expressionless but they eyes betraying their sadness.

“You did so well, guys,” he said softly, almost inaudibly.

That was all it took for them to break.

In a matter of seconds, all ten of them were hugging, not caring about how they were sweaty and smelled, holding one another close with tears streaming down their faces and clutching one another’s jerseys as if their lives depended on it.

“You really were great,” Wooseok repeated as he struggled to form words through his crying.

“I’m so sorry you couldn’t play with us, Seokie,” Jinyoung sobbed as he buried his nose in Wooseok’s hair, “It really felt like something was missing.”

“I can’t believe we won’t get to play together again,” Guanlin said, letting Jihoon hug and comfort him.

“It can’t be over,” Seungwoo cried, “We wanted to give you a trophy to hold. You were the best hyungs to us and we wanted to give you something in return.”

That made Seungyoun cry even harder and Wooseok hugged Jinyoung tighter. What Seungwoo had said was true, they had wanted to show their hyungs how much they meant to them ever since they’d joined the team and been welcomed so warmly by them. The three of them had set it as a goal after they had said goodbye to Minhyun, Seongwu, Jaehwan and Daniel the previous year. And now Jihoon, Woojin, Jinyoung, Daehwi and Guanlin were also leaving and they would have nothing to remember their team by. Wooseok really felt regret at that moment.

“We don’t need anything,” Daehwi said, shaking his head, “Just knowing that you guys are happy and enjoyed being on the team with us is an honour.”

“You were such amazing hyungs,” Seungyoun said.

“You taught me so much,” Yohan cried, trying to wipe away some of his tears, “I’ll never forget that. I was so useless when I came to the team and just being able to play today was unbelievable.”

“Oh, Yohanie,” Woojin ran to the younger boy and pulled him into a hug, “You’ve improved so much! I couldn’t even recognise you on the court today.”

“All of you played so well,” Jihoon said, pulling away from his hug with Hangyul to look at all of the second and first-year boys, “I’m so proud of all of you. You’ve come so far and improved so much since we first met. I’m sorry we couldn’t do more as a team for you, but at the same time I’m happy to be leaving such capable players and hyungs for the next team members. I don’t care about trophies and medals, the only thing I want you to promise me is that you’ll take care of them when the time comes and that you’ll teach them well. Can you do that for us?”

The younger boys all nodded, fresh tears pouring out of their eyes.

“Then I’m satisfied,” Jihoon said to them, smiling.

“Let’s have a round of applause for our leader!” Hangyul shouted, and the changing room erupted with loud clapping and cheering, Jihoon blushing in the middle of it.

“Thank you for letting me lead you,” he said, “It’s been one of the best years of my life. And I’ll leave you in good hands. I hope you’ll lead your team well… Han Seungwoo!”

Jihoon announced the leader he’d picked to go after him just like Jisung had the year before, and just like him, Seungwoo hadn’t seen it coming and was obviously surprised.

“Me?! Really?!” he exclaimed.

“Another round of applause for our new leader!” Wooseok shouted.

Once again, they celebrated with cheers and excitement, the tears of sadness giving way to smiles and laughs as the boys savoured their last moments as a team.

While they were in that changing room, it didn’t matter that they hadn’t won. They’d made so many memories together and set an example for the next team to follow. There were countless moments that they knew they would never forget, and that was what mattered most.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. Sorry for the depressing atmosphere, especially on a day like this. I'll try to post a more uplifting chapter soon.  
> Stay strong One Its!  
> Stay strong X1!  
> We'll always love you


	2. School Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow this took way too long. I have up to Chapter 5 written now and I'm trying to pick up the pace, but I have exams and balancing everything is tough, but I'm trying. I'm updating this, so I'd say I'm doing okay for now. Also, idk if you've noticed, but the chapters are named after k-pop songs that I love and they're usually what I was listening to while writing the chapter, so they set the mood in a way. Last chapter was 'Spring Breeze' by Wanna One and this time it's 'School Life' by Stray Kids. Let me know if you would be interested in a list of songs to listen to while reading at the beginning of chapters. I'm rambling, aren't I? Ah, sorry. Please enjoy!!

Kim Wooseok stepped off the bus, school uniform on and earphones in as he made his way to his school’s building.

Summer break had gone by too fast for his liking, with his family traveling to Jeju and touring the whole island for the majority of it and his attempts to cram volleyball practice between their schedules. He hadn’t had much of a chance to catch up with his friends prior to the beginning of the school year, so he was looking forward to seeing how they were and catching up on their holidays.

On cue, he heard a very familiar voice calling out to him. “Yah! Kim Wooseok!”

He had approximately five seconds to prepare himself before two bodies crashed into his. He stumbled and almost fell over, but steadied himself, pulled one of his earphones out and turned around to face Cho Seungyoun and Lee Hangyul’s smug faces.

“Aren’t you happy to see us?” Seungyoun asked.

“I was hoping it could have waited a little longer,” Wooseok replied.

“Don’t lie, hyung,” Hangyul argued, “You love us and you missed us.”

“The one thing I missed is peace and quiet and I’m still missing it,” Wooseok said.

The trio made their way inside the school building, checking their classes on the announcement board and searching for their classrooms before morning assembly.

“I’d forgotten how much I hate this place,” Hangyul sighed as they made their way down the hallway.

“Hang in there, Hangyul,” Seungyoun said, “You only have two years left.”

“And you only have one,” the other argued, “You two can’t talk.”

Wooseok still couldn’t grasp the fact that this was his last year in high school, in school altogether. He was almost eighteen years old, practically an adult, and yet he still remembered his first ever day at primary school when he was six like it had only been a few days ago. Time really flew.

Perhaps the scariest part of growing up was realising that he was supposed to have decided what he wanted to do with the rest of his life at that point. Something scarier than that? Knowing that he had no idea.

So many relatives and family friends had asked him over the summer and he’d just stood there dumbfounded, not knowing what to say. Some had even asked if he was aiming for SKY, to which he’d replied with, “I don’t even know if I want to go to university yet,” and that had been that.

His parents had pulled him away to talk about it at some point, told him how it’s important to make up his mind quickly, especially if he wanted to get into SKY and that they would look for tutors to help him if he wanted. He’d ended up freaking out and needing some space because it had been too many decisions that he’d had to make so soon and so quickly.

Thankfully, his parents had been very understanding and had told him that he could have all the space he needed until he felt ready to make up his mind. He really just hoped that it wouldn’t be too late when he finally did.

“I didn’t expect to see you here this early.”

All three of them turned around and came face to face with Seungwoo. They exchanged a quick look and then ran to him, tackling him to the ground. They hit the floor with a thud, but they continued roughhousing and rolling around, perfectly aware of all the stares they were receiving, but not caring about them at all.

When they eventually stopped and collapsed in a pile in the middle of the hallway they probably looked like messes, hair and uniforms messed up, their backpacks thrown away and laying around in random places, but they were laughing and feeling content with the beginning of their first day at school, even Seungwoo who had been tackled when he’d least expected it.

“Be the leader they said,” the eldest muttered, “It won’t be too hard they said.”

“Woohoo! Our leader!” Seungyoun cheered, getting up and starting a celebration with random dance moves and cheers.

Seungwoo was quick to get up and shush him, saying that it was bad enough that they’d caused a scene this early in the day, they would get into more trouble than they needed.

“Speaking of the club,” he said after that, “Do we have posters ready?”

Wooseok nodded, reaching for his bag which thankfully hadn’t been flung too far away, like Hangyul’s. “I did these a few days ago when we got back from Jeju,” he said as he pulled a folder of drawings out from it, “Do you think they’re okay?”

“Wooseok, they’re amazing!” Seungwoo commented, “They’re perfect. Great job. We should hang them up later today. The first club meeting is tomorrow. I booked the gym for us.”

“Perfect!” Hangyul cheered after he’d retrieved his bag and had returned to their group.

“Do you think any first-years will show up?” Wooseok wondered.

“Of course they will,” Seungwoo assured him, “At least one person comes each year. Who knows? Maybe these first-years will be really into volleyball. I mean, it’s a hot topic these days with the recent news. You heard about it, right?”

They all nodded. Of course they’d heard the news. Everyone who knew what volleyball was had heard the news. Hell, everyone _in Korea_ had heard the news!

Lee Dongwook, the nation’s pride and most prestigious volleyball player for the national men’s team, had decided to retire from the sports scene.

It had been a huge shock to everyone, mostly because no one had seen it coming, not even Lee Dongwook’s coach and teammates. One moment the team was going great, winning medals and trophies back and forth, and the next their ace was announcing that he would be leaving the team. Not many people had wondered what he would do after retiring, since he was successful enough that it felt like regardless of what he chose he would have a stable life, but what they _were_ curious about was where that decision had come from. Lee Dongwook was too young to retire, only twenty-five years old, with no health issues known to the public and a promising future ahead of him.

Because of that, volleyball had been a trending topic for a few months, making Wooseok understand why Seungwoo would assume that some might join the club just because of the attention it had gathered. He just hoped that they would show genuine interest and were willing to practice hard and improve. They needed a team to go to tournaments with.

“Have any of you seen Yohan yet?” Hangyul asked suddenly.

He’d made a good point; none of them had seen the newest member of their team yet, which was surprising because Yohan was usually very diligent when it came to being on time. They had morning assembly in less than ten minutes, and they hadn’t seen the boy anywhere.

“Maybe he’s already waiting at the assembly hall,” Seungyoun proposed.

“Yohan?” Seungwoo raised an eyebrow, “He’s either lost or peeing.”

“If he didn’t forget that we’re starting again today,” Wooseok said, “From him, I would expect anything.”

The others laughed and nodded in agreement.

“Should we head to assembly then?” Seungwoo suggested.

Morning assembly at their school was held in the school’s yard because they didn’t have an area big enough for all the students other than the theatre, and that was too far away from any class to be practical. Most of the students didn’t mind though, it was nicer to be out in the open and get fresh air early in the morning.

When the four volleyball players arrived at the open area, a good number of people was already there, including both students and teachers. They noticed some familiar faces from their year and the one before that, but also some new ones and, of course, some absent ones.

Lots of the younger kids were talking to each other, trying to make friends so that they wouldn’t end up on their own and to meet as many of their new classmates as possible in order to make the first day less awkward.

The boys all remembered being in their shoes, being so scared and wary of the new environment, but also excited and anticipating a new start and meeting new people. And now, two years later for some and one for others, here they were, with precious friends and a team backing them up. They wouldn’t have it any other way.

As more and more teachers gathered, it became obvious that they would start the assembly soon, so they made their way to their respective year’s group. They separated into three groups: first-years, second-years and third-years, the youngest ones always a little messy at first before they eventually got used to the system. Wooseok thought they were quite adorable and had to resist the urge to run and squish all of them.

The principal appeared, late as always, and stood in front of the students and teachers.

“Good morning to you all,” he greeted them, “First of all, I would like to welcome all the newcomers to Cheondae High School, and those of you who are back for another year, welcome back. I hope you’ll enjoy the school year.”

 _‘Unlikely,’_ Wooseok thought.

“You will find your schedules on the announcement board outside my office,” the principal continued, “They will remain there for the rest of this week, so please copy them as soon as you can. In other news, I would like to inform our older students that Moon Joowon, one of our gym teachers, has resigned, so the remaining teachers will be covering your classes in his place. This will not affect your schedule whatsoever. Lastly, if any of you are interested in recruiting new members for your after-school clubs, feel free to pin a poster to the announcement board. Please, do not write on other clubs’ posters. That’s all for now. Good morning and enjoy your day.”

“Thank you,” all the third and second-year students replied unanimously and bowed to him, the first-years catching on and copying them.

One year at a time, starting from the youngest one, the students made their way back to the interior of the school. Everything was in order until the third-years were also inside, and then chaos broke out as everyone scrambled to find their classroom and not get lost.

“If coach Moon is gone,” Seungyoun said, his voice raised, as he and the rest of the volleyball team tried to squeeze past others, “Who is going to train us?”

“You’re acting like Moon actually did,” Wooseok pointed out.

“You know what I mean,” Seungyoun pressed, “We need to have a coach registered for the club to be able to operate, and we all know that Moon only agreed to train us so that he could get paid for doing nothing.”

Wooseok hated to admit that he had made a good point. With the team in its current condition, no serious teacher would bother to waste their time with them. Could this really mean the end of their team?

“We’ll figure it out,” Seungwoo said.

Wooseok was sure that they would have continued the conversation, if it hadn’t been for the familiar sight of a dark-haired boy in their school uniform standing in front of one of the classrooms as if he had been waiting for them.

“Yohan!” they exclaimed.

If the hallway had been less crowded, they would have run to him, but they had to awkwardly shimmy past lost students and apologise for stepping on their toes as they attempted to make their way to him as fast as they could. Yohan, for his part, looked very amused, watching them with a huge smile on his face, one that showed what Daehwi had gotten into the habit of calling ‘his rabbit teeth’. Needless to say, it had taken less than an hour for the team to dub Yohan the official rabbit of their team. It didn’t help that he could jump very high either.

“Where were you?” Hangyul asked him when they’d finally managed to reach him.

“I decided to get some practice in nice and early,” the boy replied, “I got a little carried away and just remembered that we have classes.” He scratched the back of his head and looked down as he admitted his absent-mindedness.

“Why am I not surprised?” Seungyoun commented.

“Ah, Yohan is a hard worker, hyung!” Hangyul stated, as if they hadn’t already known, “This sounds just like him.”

“As much as I would love to keep talking,” Seungwoo intervened, “We _do_ have classes to attend, and we’re blocking the hallway. I think we should continue this discussion later. We should hang Wooseok’s posters after second period. Does that sound good?”

They all nodded in agreement.

Wooseok smiled at Seungwoo. Jihoon had really made the best choice in naming him leader. He could tell that he wasn’t going to let them down and that he was going to guide them well already.

The two of them and Seungyoun bid Yohan and Hangyul goodbye and headed out towards their own classroom. They found their teacher already inside, along with most of their classmates, looking at them disdainfully as they quietly moved to some empty seats. A little later, the last of their classmates filed in, closing the door behind them. The teacher introduced herself to them, asked them to open their notebooks and the lesson began.

As Wooseok pulled a pen out of his pencil case, he realised that he really hadn’t missed any part of this during the holidays. Every lesson was the same dull routine of talking, taking notes, scribbling over his mistakes, turning pages and repeating that.

If it wasn’t for the volleyball team, he thought that he would have fallen into some kind of depression.

\---

“Please stop looking at the other posters. It makes me feel like you’re going to leave,” Seungwoo practically begged his teammates as he and Wooseok pinned two posters to the announcement board.

“Of course we will, hyung,” Yohan teased, “I’m quitting volleyball to join the…” he scanned the already existing ones, trying to pick one of the most ridiculous one, “Jenga club,” he finally announced.

“You’d be a legend then, Yohan,” Hangyul said, “You’ll have quit two clubs in two years. Has anyone done that before?”

“Okay, we’re done here,” Wooseok announced, picking up the rest of his posters that he’d set down to pin one up, “Should we put one outside the gym?”

“Why not?” Seungyoun agreed, “People walk past the gym quite often. And it might help lost first-years find it easier.”

The rest of their teammates nodded. They didn’t have much time left until their next period, so they had to hurry to get this done. They also wanted to ask the principal about any teachers who would like to become their coaches before the first club meeting the next day. It would be quite embarrassing if they gathered a team and then had to kick them out a mere day after because they couldn’t be considered an actual club.

More than that, they all feared the possibility of the club discontinuing. Surely the principal wouldn’t be that strict. They had never caused any trouble and had trained quietly so as to not disturb any other clubs. He would understand their concerns.

They ended up hanging two posters outside the gym, one on each side of the entrance. They had a three left even after that, which they agreed to stick on the hallway walls if they were given permission to do so. They would feel like they had wasted Wooseok’s work if they had to discard some. He had taken time out of his holidays to draw them after all.

Two more periods went by at the same pace as the first ones, and then they were finally free to go to the principal’s office and sort their issues out.

The three third-years found Yohan and Hangyul outside the office, already waiting for them since their teacher had let them go a little earlier than scheduled.

Without anyone saying anything, they all pushed Seungwoo to the front and took a step back, as if telling him that he was the one who would have to do the talking and they would only step in if he needed help. The leader sighed, knowing that he had expected that from his teammates, but at the same time feeling just as nervous as them.

He took a deep breath, raised his fist and knocked on the door.

“Come in,” came the answer, a little belated, like everything the principal did.

Seungwoo opened the door and walked inside, followed by his teammates.

The principal was sitting at his desk, reading something on his computer and stopping only to type a bit before going back to reading. There were two empty cups on the desk in front of him, and the office itself smelled like stale coffee and cheap cologne mixed with sweat. Wooseok wrinkled his nose, but stood vigilantly behind Seungwoo, waiting for their leader to take the initiative and start the conversation.

He did so only moments later. “Good morning, principal Ma,” he said, bowing.

The aforementioned looked away from his screen causing the rest of the boys to follow Seungwoo’s example by bowing in respect as well.

“Good morning,” he greeted them, “What can I do for you?”

“My name is Han Seungwoo,” the boy introduced himself, “I’m the leader of the boys’ volleyball team and these are my teammates. We are here because we would like to ask which teacher will be taking over coach Moon’s spot as our trainer this year. You see, our first meeting is tomorrow, and we would greatly appreciate it if we could know this information in order to relay it to the new members of our team.”

Principal Ma scanned the boy with his eyes, making Seungwoo tense up even more, before turning back to the computer and casually saying, “No teacher will be replacing coach Moon.”

None of the five boys managed to stop himself from letting out an exclamation of disbelief.

As much as they didn’t want to admit it, they knew what this meant.

“Sir, please,” Wooseok stepped out when he noticed that Seungwoo was too shocked to keep talking, “You can’t take the club from us. We’ve been working so hard all these years. I know that we haven’t been the most successful, but that’s why we’re still trying and going on. This club, this team, means so much to all of us, you can’t just drop these news on us without any prior warning.”

“Kim Wooseok,” principal Ma spoke sternly, and Wooseok wasn’t sure what he was most surprised by, the fact that he knew his name or the tone he was speaking in, “No one said anything about me ‘taking your club from you’, so I would appreciate it if you calmed down and didn’t cause a scene in my office.”

Looking down, Wooseok nodded and apologised.

“Now, let me repeat what I said,” the older man continued, “There won’t be any teachers replacing coach Moon as your trainer because someone else reached out and offered to teach you.”

That left the boys dumbfounded. So many questions raced through their heads. Who had offered to be their coach? Why would anyone do that when they weren’t even a strong team to begin with? Was it someone with bad intentions or were they genuinely interested in them?

“You will start training with him in a week,” principal Ma said, “He’s busy this week. So make sure your team is presentable enough to show him something. I took a big risk by agreeing to this for you boys, don’t make me regret it. Is there anything else you wanted to know?”

“Um, n-yes!” Seungwoo stumbled over his words, “Posters. We have some posters and we were wondering if we could hang them in the hallway.”

“Posters for clubs can go on the announcement board,” the older man said, “I thought I mentioned that at morning assembly. You can always put some inside the gym.”

“Alright, thank you,” the leader replied, even though Ma hadn’t really been that helpful, “Good morning, sir.”

The five boys bowed and exited the office, only receiving a nod from their principal, who had already turned back to his computer before they’d even reached the door.

“Well,” Seungyoun sighed, “That was pretty useless, wasn’t it?”

“Were you really expecting any better?” Yohan sighed, “Ma hasn’t given two shits about the club for years.”

“Language,” Seungwoo scolded him, “It doesn’t matter what he does, _we_ care about the club and we’re willing to put effort into it, and that’s what matters. At least someone is going to take over Moon’s spot, regardless of when they’ll get here.”

“Didn’t you find that really weird?” Hangyul commented, “Why is our new coach coming in a week and not now?”

“At this point, I don’t care,” Wooseok replied, “Someone is going to be in charge of the club, and that’s all that matters. I was about to fight him in there if he had dared say that he wanted the club to stop.”

“Yeah, we could tell,” Yohan said, the others nodding in agreement.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t hang the rest of your posters, Wooseokie,” Seungwoo said.

“It’s okay,” Wooseok assured him, “They can just go around the gym. Someone is bound to notice them at some point.”

“Should we play a few rounds after school?” Seungyoun asked.

The mood instantly became lighter. If there was one thing that connected those boys and gave them all happiness, it was volleyball and their team. Practicing on their own during the holidays was nothing compared to playing together, and the start of school at least meant the return of the club as well.

Being on the same team with someone really brought them closer, even if it had been for a short period of time.

“Yes!” Yohan agreed enthusiastically, “I have to show you what I’ve been working on. I’ll be one of the set team members this year at the tournaments, just you wait and see!”

The boys smiled fondly and tackled him, Seungyoun making a whole show of stroking his hair lovingly and moping over how his child had ‘grown up so fast’, which caused Yohan to become flustered and try to push them off of him, without much success.

Which said something, considering Yohan was the strongest in the team.

They were interrupted by the ringing of the school bell and the sudden realisation that they were far away from any of the classrooms they had to get to.

Needless to say, their teachers weren’t satisfied to see them arrive late and out of breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it. Someone important will be in the next chapter *wink wink*, so please look forward to it. I'll try to be faster with my writing this time. Leave some kudos if you want to and feel free to chat with me in the comments. I love talking to my readers, so there's a huge chance I'll reply to your comment. Kindly point out any mistakes you might have noticed too. I hate typos, but can't stop making them and then missing them, so it would reeeeeeally help me out :) See you soon! Love you, One Its!!! <3 <3


	3. Finally

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I can do this once every two weeks update thing I've kind of got going. Hopefully I won't back out and take this back in two days. This chapter's title is Finally by Up10tion. Stan talent stan Up10tion!
> 
> Edit: One of you lovely people asked for the playlists for chapters, so I'm going to add the one I made for this one. I recommend listening to the songs in this order so that they're mostly in sync with the plot.  
> Imagination by Spyair (this is also one of the openings for Haikyuu!! the anime that inspired this story haha)  
> Clock Strikes by One Ok Rock  
> Without Words by Park Shinhye  
> Finally by UP10TION

Wooseok pulled his jersey over his head, looking down to admire the blue colour he’d missed wearing. He just wished that there was a mirror in the changing room so that he could see the number 2 on his back to feel fully immersed.

The uniform felt familiar, even after not wearing it for months, and he’d been itching to put it on again ever since setting foot in the gym.

“Must feel like being on the team again, huh?” Hangyul commented, slapping Wooseok’s back as he left the changing room.

“Better,” the older boy replied.

“Okay, guys, let’s not get too distracted,” Seungwoo called out, already in the main room, setting up the net with Seungyoun, “Start warming up. I don’t need any of you getting injured already.”

“Yes, sir!” the other three replied simultaneously, straightening up and starting their stretches.

The leader rolled his eyes at them.

They completed the warm-up and some running while Seungyoun cheered them on loudly and enthusiastically, creating a pleasant atmosphere and reminding them all of the fun training sessions they’d had together. The only thing missing was their hyungs’ voices and laughter.

Playing practice games with ten people had been easy, they split into two teams of five people, but now there were five of them, and unless someone was willing to get chopped in half, five wasn’t a number that could be evenly divided by two.

They settled it with Hangyul volunteering to be the referee, seeing as Wooseok was practically twitching, dying to play, Yohan hadn’t stopped talking about this since the beginning of the day and no one had the heart to take it from him, Seungwoo wanted to stay in the game as the leader and he just hadn’t felt like battling Seungyoun with rock paper scissors. And so, the final teams were settled: Seungwoo with Yohan and Wooseok with Seungyoun. Hangyul and Seungyoun would rotate after each set.

A quick game of rock, paper, scissors settled the question of who would serve first and Hangyul tossed a volley ball to Seungyoun, who moved to the back of the court, throwing the ball up and hitting it.

It flew over the net, Seungwoo easily receiving it with enough strength to cause it to go back to Wooseok and Seungyoun’s side. Wooseok tossed the ball to his teammate who jumped and spiked it, the strength he put in making it fly to the back of the court and land on the ground before their opponents could reach it.

“Nice!” the setter cheered, high-fiving Seungyoun.

“You’re still in shape, Wooseokie,” the other commented, teasingly.

“Of course I am,” Wooseok snickered, “I’ve been practicing all summer.”

Yohan, who had run to fetch the ball, rolled it towards their side of the court. Seungyoun caught it and carried it back to the serving spot, bouncing it a few times before serving again.

The ball went over the net, Yohan tossed it to Seungwoo, and he spiked it. Seungyoun reacted quickly, receiving the ball and sending it straight into Wooseok’s hands before running to the front again to spike it when the setter tossed it to him. This time, the other two reacted quickly, Yohan received the ball, sending it in Seungwoo’s direction, Seungwoo tossed it to Yohan and-

Wooseok didn’t even have time to process what happened.

He saw Yohan jump higher than he’d ever seen him jump, hit the ball with a perfect spike and send it right into the middle of their court, landing on the ground with a loud sound.

It seemed like he wasn’t the only one who’d been surprised by the turn of events either, everyone stopping and staring at Yohan with wide eyes and, in Hangyul’s case, open mouths too.

When they’d last seen the boy, he’d barely been able to serve strong enough to send it over the net, what’s more execute a spike like that. He’d only been on the team for three months before the spring tournament, and only had summer to practice. None of them had expected him to improve so much so quickly.

Eventually, the boy noticed that everyone’s attention was on him, and became flustered, running to the ball and looking down with a shy smile.

“I told you,” he muttered after retrieving it, holding it close to him, “I practiced a lot this summer.”

“Still,” Seungyoun said, regaining his composure, “I don’t think any of us understood exactly what you’d meant by that.”

“How many hours a day did you train?” Hangyul asked.

Yohan shrugged.

“As long as I could,” he answered, “I didn’t have much else to do, and I’d promised you that I would make you feel confident for accepting me into the team. I played so _terribly_ in the tournament-”

“I’ll stop you there,” Seungwoo cut him, “You did not play terribly. You were a newbie and it was your first tournament. I can’t even imagine the stress you must have felt when we called you to replace Jinyoung-hyung.”

“Maybe that was okay four months ago,” the younger boy replied, “But we’ve had a long break and I knew that you’d all be practicing. The least I could do was try to reach your level.”

“Even surpass it,” Hangyul laughed, and Yohan shook his head furiously, denying the compliment.

“Yohan this is amazing improvement,” Wooseok spoke up, “I- All of us, I’m sure, are really proud of you.”

“Thank you, hyung,” the boy beamed.

“Let’s continue with this game now,” Seungyoun brought them out of their stupor, “We still haven’t kicked your asses.”

“I doubt you will,” Seungwoo replied, “Yohan is our secret weapon. He might have even learned how to fly for all we know!”

They kept playing for an hour, even after their practice game was over. They couldn’t bring themselves to stop playing as a team after so long, but they also wanted to explore Yohan’s newfound abilities. Although the boy was flustered by all the attention, they could tell that he was enjoying it.

Seungwoo commenting that he felt like a father seeing his son grow up summarised all of their feelings.

They would have stayed longer even after an hour and a half were over, but their parents started calling them, wondering where they were, so they called it a day and changed back into their school uniforms to go home.

They locked the gym up and set off.

“Any plans for today?” Seungwoo asked his teammates as he pocketed the gym’s keys. Every club leader got to keep the keys for their club room so that they could access it whenever they wanted. The school had probably been fed up with sports teams showing up at random times of the day and asking for them.

“Going home and sleeping until tomorrow,” Hangyul replied, “These early mornings really don’t agree with me.”

Wooseok thought back to him and Seungyoun running into him full force when he had gotten to school and wondered what it would have been like if Hangyul _was_ a morning person.

“I’m going to try and get some more practice done,” Yohan said.

“Why?” Seungyoun exclaimed, “You’ve already overshadowed all of us. What is your ultimate goal?”

“I just want to get better,” the younger boy shrugged.

His teammates decided not to comment on that, knowing that he would deny the level he’d reached in such a short time.

“And I will probably spend another ten hours lying on my bed and trying to figure out what I want to do with my life,” Wooseok said in a joking manner that wasn’t appreciated by the other boys.

“Isn’t it a bit early to know that already?” Hangyul commented.

“I’m turning eighteen soon,” Wooseok countered, “And finishing high school. The CSATs are just around the corner and I don’t even know what course I want to take or if I want to go to SKY or not. I have no idea about my future!”

His friends went quiet. They kept walking in silence, Wooseok putting his hands in the pockets of his blazer, hoping that that would somehow make them stop shaking.

“There’s no need to put so much pressure on yourself already, Seok,” Seungwoo spoked up, causing the mentioned boy to turn and face him, “Yes, you are almost eighteen, but that doesn’t mean that you have to have your whole life sorted already. If you think about it, each person has a life expectancy of over 80 years in Korea, which means you haven’t even spent one fourth of your life.

“I know our society makes us think that CSAT results are everything and that our entire life is planned out just to lead to those few hours we spend taking the exam, but I also know you, Wooseok, and I know that you’re smarter than that.

“So I don’t know what’s gotten into your head or what kind of expectations have been forced on you, but I can confidently say that you should screw all of them and not rush anything. You’ve become one of my best friends in the three years that I’ve known you, and I’m not about to let you become unhappy because of some shitty decision you made in high school.”

Somewhere during the leader’s lecture, he had stopped walking and the others had subsequently done the same. Wooseok especially found himself unable to move from his spot, as if he was being scolded, but in a friendly and caring way more than a threatening one.

He realised how much his friend’s words made sense when he said them, so much more than the ones of pressure and stress that he’d been telling himself since the summer holidays had started. He realised that even if deep down he’d known that their country’s educational system was corrupted, he hadn’t thought about how much it related to his current situation, and it had only become clear to him now that Seungwoo had straight-out told him.

It was really that simple.

“Wooseok? Are you okay?” Seungwoo sounded concerned as he inched closer to him as if he was inspecting his condition.

“Yeah,” he replied, snapping out of his stupor, “Just… Reality check, I guess. Caught me off guard a little bit. But not in the bad way. You’re right. Thank you, hyung.”

“You don’t need to thank me,” Seungwoo said, flustered, “I just wanted to knock some sense into that thick skull of yours. Like I said, I know you, and I know that you tend to overthink things.”

“Still,” Wooseok insisted, “Thank you for reminding me.”

“I’m here for you, Seokie,” Seungwoo said, reaching out to wrap his arm around the shorter boy’s shoulders.

Wooseok ducked out of the way before he could succeed. “Don’t call me that,” he said as he wiped off the sleeves of his blazer, “I’m not a cat.”

“Now that’s the biggest lie I’ve ever heard!” Seungyoun exclaimed.

It goes unsaid that the remainder of their walk was taken over by Seungyoun, Hangyul and Yohan’s reasoning on how Wooseok was a cat disguised as a human.

Wooseok was almost thankful when they finally parted ways.

Seungwoo, Seungyoun and the two second-years of their team all lived around the same central area of their district, whereas Wooseok’s building was near the outskirts, so there came a point during their walk where the four boys would say goodbye to him and continue together, while he took a turn and walked the last few miles on his own.

There were times when those would feel like the loneliest parts of the journey, but there were also ones where he looked forward to it. Today was one of those days.

Even ten steps after going his own way, Wooseok felt like an incessant ringing in his ears had stopped. He loved his teammates, he really did, but they could be a handful. He’d always admired their leader’s courage, mostly because he knew that he probably wouldn’t have lasted five minutes of being in charge of that group of endless energy.

He also appreciated the few minutes it took for him to walk home because it was the only time in the day apart from the bus ride in the morning that he got to listen to music as he walked. Call him a romantic, but he loved walking while listening to music and observing his surroundings.

Without stopping, he removed one of his backpack’s slings, unzipped the bag and began looking through it to find his earbuds. He should probably buy a case for them soon, because they kept getting entangled with everything else and making his life harder.

He wasn’t surprised when he saw the end of the cord sticking out from under one of his notebooks. He sighed and reached into the bag to try and pull them out. That however, proved to require a lot more effort and he ended up using both hands to do it, one to pull at the cord and the other to lift the notebooks, binders, pencil case and anything else that got in the way.

Doing all this without stopping or looking where he was going, was a known recipe for disaster. In hindsight, Wooseok was lucky the only accident he had was when he bumped into another civilian trying to get somewhere.

“Oh, sorry,” he looked up from his bag to apologise, only to be instantly surprised.

Because standing right in front of Wooseok was someone he’d never thought he’d see again: the boy who had kept him company during the spring tournament. The boy he’d thought about so often, especially after realising that he didn’t even know his name, what’s more have any way to contact him again. And now here he was, standing right in front of him in ugly grey sweatpants and carrying an Olaf gym bag, but still as handsome and kind looking as that day at the tournament.

Wooseok would have felt bad for being so awkward if the boy wasn’t exactly the same. It seemed like neither of them had ever thought that they would meet again.

The other boy was the one to break out of that state first.

“We’ve met, right?” he asked softly.

“Yes,” Wooseok replied, “Tourn- At the tournament. In April.”

“So it _is_ you,” the boy said, smiling brightly, “I uh- Didn’t expect to see you again.”

“Yeah me neither,” Wooseok agreed, before composing himself and telling himself to make that most of this opportunity, “I don’t think I told you my name either.”

“It’s okay,” the boy smiled, “I forgot to too.”

“We’re both idiots then,” Wooseok said.

For a moment he thought he shouldn’t have said that and that he surely must have overstepped some boundary, but the boy laughed, and his worries vanished because his laughter was so pretty, it just made him happy.

“We are,” he said, holding out his hand, “I’m Lee Jinhyuk.”

“Kim Wooseok,” Wooseok replied, taking his hand and shaking it.

 _‘Warm,’_ he thought.

“I’m glad we ran into each other again,” Jinhyuk said, “I liked spending time with you during the tournament.”

“Me too,” Wooseok said, “I’m sorry I ran off like that. Hyung?”

“No, it’s fine,” Jinhyuk shook his head, “You wanted to be with your team and I completely understand that. And I’m a third-year in high school, which makes me?”

“We’re the same age,” Wooseok concluded, “Unless your birthday is before mine.”

“I don’t mind if it’s just about a few months,” Jinhyuk said, “No worries.”

“Okay,” Wooseok agreed, “Same goes for you. In case I’m the older one.”

“All good,” Jinhyuk said, “Now that we’ve got that out of the way, I’d really like to keep in touch with you, so could I have your number?”

Wooseok felt like his breath got caught in his neck. He knew that he shouldn’t keep his hopes up, that there were zero to no chances this boy, this seemingly perfect boy that he’d run into twice like in a drama, could be interested in him the same way he was. The still existing stigma around homosexuality in Korea didn’t leave much room when looking for a partner, and Wooseok had been met with many bad stares and people walking away after picking up even the slightest bit of flirting.

For someone like him, who had been able to tell that he wasn’t exactly like most other boys from a young age and grown up in a country like this, it felt like his entire life had been a struggle of trying to suppress his feelings until they faded and he became ‘normal’. He’d only just accepted his sexuality a year ago with the help of his team members and a female upperclassman who had found him crying in a bathroom at school one day because someone had whispered a slur to him while passing him in the hallway.

But even after coming out to his close friends and accepting himself, it hadn’t been an easy ride. He still hadn’t told his parents and he’d been rejected by the only two people he had attempted flirting with, a classmate and a barista at the coffee shop near Seungwoo’s house that the team would hang out at sometimes. Not to mention the rumours the first rejection had sparked.

Except they weren’t exactly rumours if they were true, right?

Wooseok knew that life wasn’t as perfect as dramas or webtoons portrayed it, that there were a lot more hardships and bumps in the road. He knew all that, but he could also tell from the smile on Jinhyuk’s face and the tone of his voice that there was a chance they were after similar, if not the same, things.

Maybe this chance was worth taking.

Maybe this time it would be different.

“Sure,” he said, “I’d really like to keep in touch with you too.”

“Great!” the taller boy beamed.

Wooseok pulled his phone out of his pocket, backpack hanging off of his shoulder open and the edge of his earphones’ cord spilling out, forgotten. He typed the password in and tried to ignore the way his hands were slightly shaking before handing it to Jinhyuk so that he could insert his phone number.

The boy typed until the familiar _ping_ of an incoming text was heard from his pocket. He gave Wooseok his phone back.

“I put my number in and sent myself a text,” he informed him, “So feel free to call me or text me any time to meet up.”

“Same for you,” Wooseok said, “I’ll try my best to reply quickly.”

“I would really appreciate that,” Jinhyuk told him, “Um, I’d like to talk more, but I have to go.”

“Oh, right,” Wooseok took the other’s appearance in once again, and realised that Jinhyuk must be on his way to a gym or training session and he’d interrupted him, “I’m sorry for holding you up.”

“Don’t be,” Jinhyuk was quick to retort, “I’m very happy we got to meet and get to know one another a bit.”

“Me too,” the shorter boy agreed, “I’ll see you around, Jinhyuk.”

“See you later, Wooseok,” Jinhyuk said and waved goodbye.

Wooseok took a step to the right to let him walk past him and off he went.

The boy stared at his retreating form for a few moments before turning around and walking the rest of the distance to his apartment complex dumbfounded, still not able to grasp onto the reality of what had happened. He was sure that it was sorely muscle memory that managed to get him home, otherwise he would have been lost or have ended up in an unfamiliar neighbourhood, because his mind had gone completely blank.

His mother was at home waiting for him when he unlocked the front door of the apartment and stepped inside, toeing off his shoes by the entrance and heading straight to his room.

“How was the first day of school?” his mum asked, looking up from the newspaper she was looking through when she heard him enter, only to be met with no response.

“Wooseok?” she called after him as he crossed the living room, “Yah! Wooseok! Your bag in unzipped! Don’t tell me you’ve been walking around town with it like this!”

Wooseok barely even heard her.

He closed his bedroom door as soon as he was inside, shrugged his backpack off, tossed it on the floor by his desk and lay down on his bed, legs dangling off the edge and leaning on his elbows. His phone was still in his hand, so he unlocked it.

The first thing he saw was the contacts app, with the new contact added. He smiled softly to himself before exiting the app and typing out a message to Seungwoo.

 **You:** I must have done something amazing in my past life and my karma is just now catching up to me

Seungwoo replied only a few seconds later.

 **Seungwoo-hyung:** What do you mean?

 **You:** I bumped into someone on my way home

 **You:** Literally

 **Seungwoo-hyung:** Who?

 **You:** Remember that guy I met at the spring tournament?

 **Seungwoo-hyung:** Of course I do

 **Seungwoo-hyung:** You reached peak dumbass behaviour that day

 **You:** I know you don’t need to remind me smh

 **You:** But it’s all good now because I ran into him and now I have his number

 **Seungwoo-hyung:** That went from naught to a hundred very fast

 **Seungwoo-hyung:** Have you texted him yet?

 **You:** No

 **You:** That’s too desperate

 **Seungwoo-hyung:** As if you’re not

 **You:** Doesn’t mean I can go full stalker on him

At that moment, his bedroom’s door swung open and his mother walked in, the curious expression on her face turning into a scowl after seeing him.

“What have I told you about lying on your bed with your uniform on?” she sighed, “ _And_ you’re on your phone as soon as you came back from school. Do you really not care about your poor mother?”

“Mum, you know that’s not true,” Wooseok got up, dropping his phone and pulling the woman into an embrace.

“Take that off first,” she complained, “All the germs from the buses and classrooms.”

“I thought you wanted me to show you how much I care about you,” he replied, grinning widely.

“Wash up first and then you can hug me all you want,” his mother said, returning his smile.

“Alright, mum,” he chuckled, “I won’t take too long, promise.”

He typed a quick message to Seungwoo to end the conversation and then rushed out of the room in the direction of the bathroom.

“You’d better not,” his mother called after him, “I made samgyeopsal for you and it would be a shame if it went cold.”

“I wouldn’t dream of letting that happen,” he agreed and closed the door behind him.

He showered quickly and then had lunch with his mum, while they talked about his day at school, seeing his friends again and playing volleyball again, with her double and triple checking that his ankle was alright, despite the doctor pronouncing him fully healed two months ago, and she also shared some stories from the office she worked at.

It was moments like these that really provided a release from the stress of school and everyday life in general to Wooseok, and he was sure that the people around him would agree.

\---

The next day, Wooseok got to wear his volleyball uniform again, but this time he was standing in the middle of the gym next to his teammates, watching the seconds tic by and waiting for those who had seen their posters and were interested in joining their team to arrive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More people will be introduced in the next chapter, and this time I think you know who haha. Thank you so much for reading and for all the love you've been showing my story. It means the world to me. Feel free to chat with me in the comments or on Twitter. My @ is jinnius_lek. I actually have a weishin social media au on Twitter if you're interested in that. Until next time, lovelies!! Don't forget to drink water!!


	4. Popping Star

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be up yesterday, but university was so busy that I didn't have the energy to do anything. I'm sorry!! I'm also recovering from BTS' comeback, which was a thing that happened. Kings. And is anyone else excited for MCND's debut? They're gonna do amazing, I'm sure!! Anyway, before I unleash my inner fangirl, I'll drop this chapter's playlist (please listen in this order thank you) and let you enjoy the chapter!  
> BTS - Nevermind  
> IZ*ONE - Oh My  
> TXT - Popping Star  
> NCT Dream - Chewing Gum  
> Victon - I'm Fine

_Tic toc tic toc_

14:28

Five boys stood in the centre of the volleyball training gym dressed in blue uniforms, the numbers 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7 written in white on their backs. The net was up, balls brought out and the gym was clean.

They were ready.

_Tic toc_

14:29

They had wanted to make a banner to welcome the new members of their team, but time hadn’t been in their favour. They hoped it wouldn’t create a bad first impression. They knew that the taekwondo team had cake and balloons ready for their newcomers.

_Tic toc_

Surely someone would show up.

There were only five of them now. They needed one more person to be able to play a match.

_Tic toc_

Only one.

_Tic_

Surely one person would be interested in joining the volleyball team.

_Toc_

14:30

The clock’s hand changed position, and they collectively took a deep breath. This was it, the meeting time.

These next ten minutes would determine everything for them.

They started counting the seconds.

Even though everyone was only counting inside their head, you could hear the numbers if you entered.

_One._

_Two._

_Three._

_Four._

_Five._

A breeze blew past the front door, moving the handle and causing it to move slightly as it wasn’t screwed onto the door tightly. The sound made them tense up, but the door didn’t open.

A false alarm.

The clock’s second hand kept moving, already halfway around the disk.

_Tic toc tic toc_

14:31

No one.

_Tic toc tic toc_

All five of them knew that it was hopeless to panic at the first indication of an unfortunate situation, but they panicked nonetheless.

_Tic toc tic toc_

If it had been the passing seconds they’d been counting that had been audible before, now it was their pleas to any force, any deity, any person who would hear them.

‘Please don’t let our efforts go to waste. We put so much work into this, so much time, so much energy. Don’t let it just vanish. Please.’

_Tic toc_

14:32

The door opened.

And time stopped.

On the other side of the door stood six boys, wide-eyed and curious, peaking into the gym seemingly wondering if they’d come to the right place, heads moving left and right before landing on the five figures in front of them.

To their credit, their upperclassmen were too shellshocked by the number of them to time their entrance with their introduction. It took them a few seconds to get out of their stupor.

“Hello!” Seungwoo said, smiling, as soon as he did, the rest of the members turning to face him.

“Welcome to Cheondae High School’s volleyball team!” they all said after his initial introduction and bowed to the newcomers.

When they looked up, they found the boys trying to line up and smiled fondly at the sight. First-years seemed to get smaller and cuter each year.

Finally, the six young boys were stood in a line. One by one they started introducing themselves.

“Hello, we are,” they all said, before turning to the one of the farther left side, the tallest of the lot.

“Kang Minhee,” he said.

“Nam Dohyon,” the next one introduced himself, a boy with chubby cheeks only a little shorter than Minhee.

“Lee Eunsang,” said a boy with a soft voice and a smile that made his whole face light up.

“Song Hyeongjun,” a small one with an accent, curly hair and big eyes.

“Cha Junho,” said the one with the widest shoulders, forcing an awkward smile.

“And Son Dongpyo,” said the last boy, with more energy than the others and probably more than what was needed for a simple introduction.”

“Please take care of us!” they all finished together, bowing to their seniors.

The older boys gave them sweet smiles and clapped, thanking them for their introduction.

“My name is Han Seungwoo,” the oldest one said, taking a step forward and closer to them, “I’m a third-year, the leader and also a middle blocker of the team. I hope we’ll be able to create good memories together as a team.”

He gestured to his teammates to introduce themselves as well.

“I’m Cho Seungyoun,” Seungyoun said, “I’m also a third-year and a wing spiker!” He jumped and demonstrated an exaggerated spike, drawing a few laughs from some of the kids.

Hangyul was the next to speak, “I’m Lee Hangyul. I’m a second-year with Yohan over there,” he pointed to him, “And my position in the team is middle blocker.”

“And since I was already introduced by my friend,” Yohan said, “My name is Kim Yohan. You know my year, so I won’t repeat it, and I’m a wing… spiker?” He sounded hesitant, turning to Seungwoo for confirmation. The older nodded. “Yes, a wing spiker,” Yohan concluded his introduction with a nod and a bunny smile.

Since Yohan had entered the team late into the year and very close to the spring tournament, they had trained him so that he could fit into any position was available. It was only now that they realised that they hadn’t decided on a final one for him. Wing spiker seemed fit though, especially after the impressive spikes he’d shown them during their mini practice the previous day.

He was going to make them proud, Wooseok could tell.

He didn’t realise that he’d zoned out until he felt Seungwoo tap his arm. He was instantly brought back to reality and scrambled to get his greeting in order.

“Hi,” he said and gave the six new boys a gentle smile, “I’m Kim Wooseok. I’m a third-year and the team’s setter.”

Thus concluded their introductions. The first-years were shown to the changing rooms so that they could get out of their school uniforms and into some more comfortable clothes for their first practice. One by one they filed in, looking like a flock of lost ducklings following Seungyoun to the back room.

Of course, they had other things to take care of before they could start training. As much as the upperclassmen were looking forward to a game, they had to get some basic questions out of the way.

It was a known fact that some people entered sports clubs without any prior knowledge or experience with said sport. There was nothing wrong with that, hell that had been Yohan last year, but it meant that each team member required different attention. It was important to bring everyone on the team to a similar level of skill in order for them to work better.

They had agreed the previous day that for that to happen, it would be easier if they each took on a certain position or level to train for as long as they deemed necessary. Seungwoo would take the blockers, Seungyoun the spikers, Hangyul the ones with average skills and Wooseok and Yohan would train the more inexperienced ones so that Yohan could perfect his training and help at the same time.

They quickly revised their plan as they waited for their new recruits, Seungwoo already equipped with a pen and paper to keep note of everyone’s positions and experience, the perfect image of a leader.

It wasn’t too long before they were joined by the six boys. They came out of the changing room in the same orderly fashion they’d entered it in, meeting their seniors by one of the net’s poles and taking a seat in the circle they’d formed.

“Before we start anything, we just want to know how long you’ve been playing and what position you usually play,” Seungwoo explained, “If you don’t have a specific one that’s fine too. We’re just trying to see what level you’re at to help you.”

“We can just go around the circle if you want,” Seungyoun continued, “So Eunsang can start and then we can go clockwise.”

Eunsang nodded in understanding. “Alright,” he said, “This is my fourth year in a volleyball team and I was a spiker in my last team.”

“Okay, thank you,” Seungwoo told him, “Who’s next?”

“I am,” said Hyeongjun, “I’ve been playing volleyball since I was eight which makes it…” he counted with his fingers and Wooseok saw Yohan try to hold in squeals of fondness, “Seven years. Oh! And I’m a blocker.”

The last part caught the boys by surprise. Hyeongjun was a small boy in every way, but he and Dongpyo were the shortest in the team, and shorter players didn’t usually get chosen for the blocker position.

Hyeongjun must have felt their surprise, because he started playing with his fingers in his lap and muttered, “I know I’m a little short, but I can jump high, I promise.”

“We believe you, don’t worry,” Hangyul was quick to reassure him, “We were just a little surprised at first. I can’t wait to see your moves.”

This brought a smile to the younger boy’s face and he visibly relaxed. Wooseok thought that they were lucky to have Hangyul on the team, he was good with kids. Even though their new teammates weren’t technically kids, he couldn’t help but feel protective over them, just like he’d felt about Hangyul and Yohan when he’d first met them. Those two, however, had been quick to show their bratty sides, so the feelings hadn’t lasted long.

“I’ve been playing for a year,” said Dohyon, who was sitting next to Hyeongjun, “I didn’t really have a position in my old team. We were kind of just throwing balls around while our coach smoked outside the gym.”

“It’s okay, we understand,” Seungyoun commented, causing all of the older members to groan at the reminder of coach Moon, “We’ll figure it out together.”

“We’ll help you find your calling,” Yohan added.

“Ignore him,” Wooseok rolled his eyes, “He makes everything more dramatic than it really is.”

“Just like out Hyeongjunnie,” Minhee cooed from next to him, looking at said boy with a bright expression.

“Hyung! Don’t embarrass me!” Hyeongjun pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them and turning his head away from his friend.

“No fighting, boys!” Seungwoo scolded, “Let’s try and keep the atmosphere peaceful.”

“Oh no, we’re not fighting,” Minhee quickly shook his head, “We’ve just been friends since primary school and I like to tease him. His reactions are really cute.”

“They’re not,” the shorter boy protested, pouting.

“He’s so adorable,” Seungwoo whispered to Yohan, “Let’s keep him.”

And if there was one thing the whole of the volleyball team could agree on at that moment, it was that they were definitely going to keep all six of the boys who had already made themselves at home in their hearts.

After their short meeting, they split into the groups they’d decided on: Seungwoo with Hyeongjun, Seungyoun got Eunsang and Junho while Hangyul took on Dongpyo and Wooseok and Yohan were in charge of Minhee and Dohyon.

The groups were small, making them easier to work with, however, they couldn’t help but notice how few the experienced players were in comparison to the ones who were trying to wing the basic skills. It was going to give them more work sure, but it was some extra effort all of them were willing to put in.

For their team.

Wooseok approached his three charges with three volley balls in his arms that he dropped on the ground as soon as he reached them.

“Let’s start with the basic of basics,” he told them and pointed to the balls, “This is a volley ball.”

The boys laughed softly, still visibly nervous. The third-year was quick to pick up on it and offered them a gentle smile.

“Don’t worry,” he said, “We were all in the same place once and we just trained harder and harder until we improved. Yohan just joined our team six months ago and do you want to see how hard he can spike now?”

Minhee and Dohyon’s eyes widened and glistened with interest while Yohan scratched the back of his neck anxiously after being put in the spotlight so suddenly.

Nevertheless he agreed to spiking the ball Wooseok tossed him, indeed causing their upperclassmen to be even more surprised and to clap for him enthusiastically.

“I am 1000% certain that you two can reach that level too,” Wooseok said to them, “All it’s going to take is hard work. Are you willing to do that?”

Minhee and Dohyon nodded fiercely.

“That’s all I need,” the setter said, “Now, let’s get started.”

The two first-years listened carefully as Wooseok carefully explained the first information they had to know, from the court to the positions and what each of them meant. He had the small group stand in a circle and toss a volley ball to one another normally until they had established a rhythm that allowed them to keep catching it every time. And the young boys listened to him carefully, looking at him for approval with stars in their eyes every time the ball landed in their hands; approval that he gave with constant encouragements, cheers and smiles.

They lost their momentum once, when a ball Seungyoun and Eunsang had been using to practice spikes bounced away from them and crashed into their circle. However, after some laughs (and high-pitched screams on Dohyon’s part), everyone managed to go back to normal. They even sped up enough that the ball was barely spending any time in their hands before being passed to the next person.

“Volleyball is about the ball staying in the air,” Wooseok had explained, “As soon as it touches the ground, it’s over. But holding onto it for too long isn’t allowed either. Ideally, you should barely feel the ball on your hand when it’s in your possession. You want to get rid of it as soon as possible, strategically though.”

Satisfied with Minhee and Dohyon’s quick progress after that point, he decided to go one step further.

As soon as the ball was tossed to him, he grabbed it firmly to stop the rotation. He caught Minhee outstretching his arms on instinct and pull them back quickly when he realised that the ball wasn’t coming. Fast enough that he barely caught it. _‘Nice reflexes,’_ he thought.

“I’m going to give you your final lesson for today,” he announced, speaking louder so that he could be heard over the sound of the balls hitting the ground behind them, “If it’s too hard, we’ll go back to this, but you’re doing so well I think we can take the chance.”

He set the ball down and stretched his arms out once they were free.

“Make a triangle with your hands,” he demonstrated what he meant by laying his hands out with the palms facing down, his thumbs touching, and pointer fingers connected.

The boys copied him.

“This is the shape your hands will need to have in order to set the ball,” he told them, “Just hold this and raise your arms above your head until they’re a little ahead of your forehead. And now curl your fingers as if you’re holding the ball in your hands.”

He noticed Dohyon having some difficulties understanding his words, so he picked up the discarded ball and walked over to him. He placed it in his hands, so that after actually experiencing the feeling he would hopefully be able to replicate it when he needed to.

He left the ball there for a few seconds and then removed it. He instructed the first-year to put his arms down and try to get into position again, which Dohyon did and this time he did much better, almost perfect. And for Wooseok, a setter, to think that, it was impressive.

He hoped Seungwoo, Seungyoun and Hangyul were having the same amount of luck with their charges, because if they were, they had a promising team in their hands.

Seeing Yohan get a little bored of the repetition of what he’d learned the previous year, Wooseok gave a quick demonstration of a hand set and ensured that Dohyon and Minhee had it down before giving them a ball each and letting them toss it and receive it back repeatedly until they could go a while without dropping it and pulled Yohan aside.

He apologised for holding him for that long.

“It’s okay, hyung,” the younger boy assured him, “It brought back memories. Not that long ago, it was me you were teaching.”

“And you kept hitting Woojin-hyung whenever Daehwi-hyung and I told you to practice hand setting,” Wooseok reminded him, “I’m surprised he never murdered you.”

“I wasn’t meant to be a setter,” Yohan shook his head, “I wouldn’t have dreamt of taking the position from you or hyung.”

“I’m glad,” Wooseok said, “Not only because that means I got to keep it, but also because now you can be a spiker. And those spikes of your will take us places, trust me.”

Yohan looked flustered and like he was trying to say something, so Wooseok tossed him the ball to try and catch him off guard and trigger his reflexes.

He watched as Yohan spiked against the wall to warm up, eyes still going back to the two first-years who were dedicated to their hand setting task, before moving to an empty spot by the net so that he could toss the ball for the second-year to spike to master their coordination.

The eleven boys wrapped up their practice after two hours. The first-years were getting picked up by their parents and didn’t want to be too late, and they had gotten a satisfying amount of work in, so they were only left with good feelings from the session. They tidied up, changed back into their uniforms and left the gym, locking up as they did.

The older boys insisted on walking the new members to the front gate where they said their parents would be waiting for them, except for Junho who lived close enough to the school that he could walk home. In fact, he and Yohan discovered that they were practically neighbours!

When the last two people, Hyeongjun and Minhee, had entered Hyeongjun’s mother’s car and said goodbye, the remaining six boys left the school building.

For the most part, they made pleasant conversation for most of the way home until they separated from Wooseok as always, but Junho left himself out and chose not to talk much unless he was addressed. Not that his teammates minded, of course, they all knew how it felt to suddenly enter a group of people who already knew and had friendly relationships with each other. They just hoped that the boy would eventually let his guard down and let them get close to him.

Wooseok’s parents weren’t home when he stepped into the apartment. Practice must have taken longer than he’d thought, because his parents always tried to be home when he came back from school (his mother more often than his father because of the distance he had to travel to get to his workspace).

As much as Wooseok appreciated their efforts, he was also grateful for the alone time that had been given to him.

No questions about his day, no studying suggestions or distractions. He could get some things that he wanted out of the way: reorganise his shelves and folders, take too long in the shower, catch up with his friends and former teammates from three years ago, draw and maybe, just maybe, muster up the courage to send a text message to Jinhyuk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! How are you feeling now that our maknaes are here too? I had a lot of fun writing them, so I hope it was an enjoyable chapter to read. Please let me know what you thought and I hope I'll see you again soon! Have a lovely day!!


	5. Love Scenario

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course I had to go and take ages with this chapter after promising updates every two weeks. I'm so sorry if I let anyone hanging. I know it's not an excuse, but with everything going on with COVID-19, I've been so stressed and busy that I sadly lost inspiration. It's back now, though, so no worries. I hope all of you guys are all safe and healthy. Please stay inside and take care of yourselves.
> 
> Playlist for this chapter (please listen to it in this order)  
> Acourve - After You Left Me (I'm so sorry Wooseok)  
> IU - Ending Scene  
> BTS - Friends  
> IU - Palette  
> iKon - Love Scenario  
> BTS - Serendipity

“So let me get this straight,” Seungyoun said, leaning against the wall of the gym right where Wooseok was trying to blue tack a photograph.

“There is nothing straight about this whole ordeal,” the aforementioned cut him, pushing his arm away so he could go back to his task.

Seungyoun groaned. “Can you not?” he complained, “I’m trying to have a serious conversation with you and you’re not helping.”

“Just thought I’d remind you,” Wooseok shrugged, finally deciding on where he liked the photo and pressing down on its corners to secure it to the wall.

“You know what, forget it,” the spiker sighed, “I shouldn’t have even bothered.”

“Shouldn’t have bothered with what?” Hangyul asked as he walked by after putting up the net.

“Trying to talk to Seok about his date,” Seungyoun replied.

Chaos erupted.

“Date?!” Yohan exclaimed and crossed the court in a matter of milliseconds to get to the three boys.

“You finally texted him?” Seungwoo, who had been pushing the trolley with balls in, ran to them so fast that he balls on top started falling off.

“Who? What happened?” Hangyul kept repeating, as clueless as ever.

Wooseok sighed.

His teammates knew about Jinhyuk, but not as Jinhyuk and rather the guy Wooseok had met at the spring tournament who he had been attracted to but had been too dumb to ask for the name and/or phone number of.

He really didn’t want to have to retell the past few days to them, especially when he didn’t know how the date was going to go. He would much rather tell them that he’s been seeing someone and that it’s going well sometime in the future than the boring story of one date which had led to nothing.

He should have never breathed a word to Seungyoun. He’d signed the rights to his private life over the second he’d opened his mouth.

Who would have thought that five sixteen-year-olds would be his saviour, as the gym’s door opened and Dongpyo, Eunsang, Junho, Hyeongjun and Dohyon walked in, causing the conversation to stop and everyone to go back to their business. It was too early into their time as a team for them to be talking about boyfriends and dates, so it was best to avoid the conversation altogether for now.

Wooseok breathed out in relief, sticking the last picture on the wall and waving at the first-years before going to help Seungyoun.

“Um,” Hyeongjun’s soft hesitant voice caught his attention. The boy was looking at him, biting his lip with his arm slightly raised as if he was asking for permission to speak in class.

“Minhee’s going to be a bit late,” he said when Wooseok nodded at him to speak up.

“That’s fine,” the older boy assured him, “Is everything alright?”

“Yes, he’s just at the principal’s office,” Hyeongjun replied.

Wooseok almost raised an eyebrow in confusion. He stopped himself from reminding the younger that it was hardly ever a good thing to be at the principal’s office, either called or due to an inquiry, but it was obvious that the boy was uncomfortable speaking about it so he let him be. If they thought it was necessary, they could pull Minhee aside when he arrived and talk to him.

The first-years moved to the changing room and Wooseok rushed to Seungwoo’s side to deliver the news to him.

The leader looked surprised when the principal was mentioned but understood where Wooseok was coming from with not asking anything and the two agreed to keep an eye on the boy when he arrived.

After an excruciating few minutes of dividing the net into separate sections for each group to use (which were only excruciating because Seungyoun whispered, “I’m not done with you yet,” when they began and kept wiggling his eyebrows every time they made eye contact after that), Wooseok was desperate to shoot a ball as far away as he could until it crashed into a wall and imagine Seungyoun’s face on it, but he was back to basics with Dohyon today, and Minhee when he arrived, so his plans would have to be pushed back.

On a lighter note, he was delighted to see that Dohyon was much quicker in picking up and repeating what he’d taught them the day before. This meant that he got to practice on his own a bit while Wooseok worked with Yohan.

Right as they were about to execute a perfect attack, the door swung open once again, and in walked Kang Minhee, posture displaying unease with his hunched shoulders and bowed head.

Yohan missed the ball, but it didn’t matter because everyone had now turned around to face their teammate.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” Minhee muttered, “Please go back to practice, I’ll be right there.”

Without looking at any of them, the boy disappeared into the changing room, closing the door behind him.

Almost instantly, Hyeongjun dropped the ball he was holding and ran after him. The others exchanged a glance and agreed to leave them be. The two knew each other well, so it was perhaps best to let them handle the situation without interfering.

With heavy hearts, they went back to their training.

The atmosphere was heavy until Hyeongjun and Minhee returned to the room. The latter already looked much better than he had when he’d walked in, even mustering a small smile for his teammates.

“Is everything alright?” Seungwoo asked gently.

“Yeah, all good,” Minhee held up a thumbs up and flashed a toothy grin, “Sorry about that.”

Before anyone else could question him, he dashed to Dohyon, picked up a ball and started practicing hand sets like the previous day.

Seungwoo looked down and shook his head.

He didn’t need to say a word for Wooseok to know that they were feeling the same way.

Practice went smoothly for the most part. The only indication that something was wrong was that Minhee seemed a lot less focused than the day before, dropping the ball or even being so distracted that he didn’t even realise it had flown past him when Wooseok tried to get him and Dohyon to do some rounds of tossing and receiving it back and forth. Seungwoo would tell him that he’d noticed the same with Hyeongjun as well later as they were preparing to leave.

Something just wasn’t right, but none of the nine boys could put their finger on it.

Seungwoo was the most distraught about it, saying that it was his responsibility to know what was going on with his teammates as the leader, and Wooseok knew that too much weight had already been put on his shoulders with his new position.

He should talk to him some time, see if they could share some of the responsibilities. It was already hard seeing Junho feel awkward around them and Minhee and Hyeongjun suffering silently, he didn’t want to have to see his friend crumble too.

“Who are they, Wooseok-hyung?” a voice caught his attention.

He looked to his right to see Dohyon looking at the pictures he’d stuck on the gym’s wall earlier that day. The younger boy was looking down (wait, down?) at him with curiosity.

Wooseok straightened his back in an attempt to show his full height, which still paled in comparison to the first-year’s. Nevertheless, he answered Dohyon’s question.

“It’s previous teams from the school,” he said, “It’s like a tradition we have to put all of these pictures up so that we can remember them. You know, in case one of them gets super famous someday.”

Obviously the last part wasn’t true, but it made the younger boy smile and that was all that mattered.

“How old are they?” asked Minhee, who seemed to have materialised on his other side with the other youngsters.

“They go back to 2002’s team,” Wooseok replied.

“The year I was born!” Eunsang exclaimed, eyes twinkling.

“Do you know their names?” Junho asked.

More than anything, Wooseok was happy that he’d gotten Junho to talk to him. Sadly, he couldn’t give him a satisfying answer.

“No, sorry,” he admitted, “I only know the names of the people from the teams I was in. I’m sure Seungyoun knows though. He searched high and low for them two years ago when he was in your shoes and saw these for the first time.”

“Oh look, there he is!” Dongpyo had moved closer to the pictures and was pointing to a person in one of them who, sure enough, was a two year younger Seungyoun.

The boy still had his haircut that they’d called his rat bangs and was smiling so widely that his eyes were closed and mouth wide open, arms and legs wrapped around Jaehwan like an octopus as the elder gave him a piggyback.

“And that’s Wooseok-hyung!” said Eunsang, pointing to another person in the same picture.

The Wooseok in that picture had red hair and was crouching down in the front line along with Daehwi and Jihoon after Minhyun had suggested that, “The smallest sit in the front so we’ll be able to see them.” The three boys were doing peace signs and one wouldn’t know by looking at the picture that right after it was taken they had chased their teammates around the entire school with water bottles as revenge for their comments.

It was also impossible to tell that this was the day after they’d been disqualified from the spring tournament after playing only one game, their last one together.

“Who’s everyone else?” asked Dohyon.

“They’re mine, Seungwoo-hyung and Seungyoun-hyung’s hyungs,” Wooseok explained, “Daniel, Jaehwan, Minhyun, Seongwu, Jinyoung, Woojin, Guanlin, Daehwi and Jihoon.” He pointed each of his former teammates out as he said their names. “They taught us so much. I hope I could be even a fraction of what they were for me for you kids.”

“There they are again,” Dongpyo pointed out, looking at the picture above the one they had been looking at.

None of the current third-years were present in that one.

“Yes,” Wooseok nodded, “That’s them with their teammates Jisung and Sungwoon. I never got to meet them because they graduated the year before I started school here, but our hyungs spoke really fondly of them.

“The eleven of them were an amazing team. They made it farther than any Cheondae volleyball team has to date. I think it was because they made such a good team together. They were like brothers. When Jisung and Sungwoon left, I guess it just wasn’t the same.

“To me, Seungwoo-hyung, Seungyoun-hyung, Yohanie and Hangyul, they’re like legends.

“They were called Wanna One.”

“They had a team name?” Dohyon asked.

“Of course they had a team name,” Seungwoo piped in, surprising everyone with his appearance. They hadn’t seen him coming, but, judging from the look on his face, Wooseok could tell that he had been listening in for a while.

“Does that mean we’ll get to have one too?” Eunsang asked him.

“If you can think of a good one, sure,” the leader assured him.

The first-years looked more excited at the prospect of a team name than they had for the entire duration of the two days that they’d been members of the team. _‘Focus on the small things, I guess,’_ Wooseok thought.

\---

“Hold fucking still, Kim Wooseok!”

Wooseok was deeply regretting telling many people about his date with Jinhyuk: Seungyoun, Hangyul, Yohan and most recently his older friends Sooil and Yein.

Right now, it was Yein who was the problem.

For the entire duration of his and Wooseok’s friendship, the boy had been passionate about fashion and makeup, often using his friends as models to practice on, to which none of them complained because the end result was always breathtaking.

Yein was someone who had decided from a young age to turn what others considered a hindrance into something he was proud of and embraced. For as long as Wooseok had known him, Yein had been soft-spoken, sweet, generous and, in some aspects, more ‘feminine’ than other boys. One of Wooseok’s earliest memories was of him and his friend pulling clothes from Yein’s mum’s wardrobe and using her makeup to put on their own drag performance.

He had been lucky to grow up in a family that was loving and accepted every part of him, wanting him to be happy by doing what he enjoyed and brought him pleasure.

They always stood up for him when other parents would say he didn’t act or sound “like a little boy does” while watching him play with their children at the park or the playground.

“Well, at least he’s happy,” they would say.

When the two boys went to school, all four of their parents had the same worry: what would happen when there was no one to defend them? They knew that kids could be cruel, and bullies loved to target happy and confident people who were nothing like them, so their children were like bait being dangled to them.

Yein’s parents still did the best they could to reassure him that he was perfectly normal every time someone dared tell him the opposite, and Wooseok was always by his side to protect him in case he needed it.

Wooseok remembers one of the few times he’d seen his friend cry.

They were seven years old and sitting outside of the principal’s office as their parents and the parents of one of their classmates talked inside.

Wooseok had punched someone. He’d walked into their classroom to find the other boy and his friends beating Yein up, calling him awful names and pushing him further and further into a corner as they kicked him and Yein begged them to stop. Wooseok had seen red and the next thing he knew, his knuckles were hurting and the boy was clutching his nose which was dripping blood and squealing. But Yein wasn’t being hurt anymore, and that had been all that had mattered.

Their parents had been called in and each child had told his side of the story before leaving the room so that the adults could talk and decide what to do.

Wooseok had been sitting in a plastic blue chair, holding Yein’s hand as the other cried silently, trying not to make a noise. The boy Wooseok had punched was sitting a few seats away from them with an excessive amount of cotton stuffed into his nose to stop it from bleeding. Apparently Wooseok hadn’t hit him hard enough to break it, but he’d had a nasty bruise for a while to remember the hit.

The boy ended up getting a week’s suspension and Wooseok was suspended for three days. After all, he did punch someone in the face.

“I’m sorry, Seokie,” Yein had whispered to him during the car ride home. They had both ridden in Wooseok’s parents’ car because they had refused to let go of each other’s hands.

“Why are you sorry?” Wooseok had asked his friend.

“If I didn’t sound like a girl then this wouldn’t have happened,” Yein had replied, eyes watering again.

“You don’t sound like a girl,” Wooseok had told him, “You sound like Yein. And I think Yein sounds nicer than anyone in our class. Even nicer than anyone in the world!”

People give a child’s words too little credit.

From that day on, Yein became confident in all the things other people brought him down for.

He started speaking louder and clearer, no longer ashamed of his high-pitched voice, and even joined the school’s choir where he was regularly praised for being able to reach high notes that even the girls would struggle with.

He spread his kindness to the people around him, even the ones who talked behind his back or in his face. He would bake a cupcake every time one of their classmates had a birthday for them, and he would take extra care with the ones meant for the class bullies. He would leave little notes of encouragement in their backpacks while they weren’t looking because he was quick to figure out that they were just like he used to be, insecure and so afraid.

As they got older, Yein started wearing makeup to school, doing intricate designs that made people gasp and being the first person in their year to show up with perfect matching eyeliner.

He and Wooseok started volleyball together when they were twelve. They built muscular bodies that rivalled their tormentors’ but didn’t care about showing them off like they did.

And then they met their school’s volleyball team and were finally accepted into a group of loving friends that they held onto for years.

These days, Yein was still heavily involved with volleyball, singing and fashion. They’d never lost contact, even after Wooseok’s family had moved and he’d had to go to Cheondae instead of the high school his friends had gone to. Yein would occasionally send them pictures of clothes or makeup looks that he thought would look good on them, and they were always spot on.

Which was why Wooseok had entrusted him with today’s task: getting ready for his date with Jinhyuk.

It had seemed like fun at first. Yein had showed up too early to just be a coincidence with a bag full of makeup products and one with accessories. It should have been a warning sign for Wooseok, but he hadn’t realised it.

He’d been sitting in a chair for over an hour by now, muscles aching as Yein tried to get him to stand straight and turn his face in a specific angle to catch the light coming in from his bedroom’s window.

He could have sworn that Yein had been doing the same thing for half an hour.

“I said hold still,” the shorter boy scolded, slapping Wooseok’s shoulder.

“My neck is so stiff, Yein,” Wooseok complained, “Can’t I just relax for one minute?”

“I thought you said that this was a date,” Yein said, “And you need to look stunning. I can’t help you if you won’t cooperate.”

“I look stunning anyway, technically I don’t need you,” Wooseok retorted.

“Then why did you ask me to do this for you?” Yein asked and without even giving him a second to reply continued, “Exactly. Now sit still and let me do my job.”

He tilted his friend’s face to the side again and picked up another brush that he’d laid out on the desk in front of them

Wooseok would have cried in relief if only the eye look hadn’t taken them ten minutes and he wouldn’t dare smudge it.

After what felt like ages, Yein set down his brush and palette and proclaimed that he was done. Wooseok got up from the chair and ran to the bathroom to look in the mirror and get away from him at the same time.

Yein hadn’t added much colour to the look and had instead gone for tones that would bring out Wooseok’s natural beauty with the only exception being the slightly tinted lip gloss that he’d used. He’d applied some highlighter to his cheekbones, making them shimmer when they caught the light. The bottom of his eyes had been lined with white liner, making them look bigger and his eyelashes had gotten a dash of mascara. The look was completed with neutral eyeshadow shades that blended into his skin but also made his eyes stand out more.

Wooseok hated to admit it, but Yein had done an amazing job.

And the younger boy knew it, going by how he was praising himself while watching Wooseok react to the finished look.

“And now let’s get you dressed,” he announced after he’d decided that he’d been waiting enough, grabbing Wooseok’s arm and pulling him back into his room.

He sat him back down in the chair and opened his closet. He stared at the mess of clothes piled up disdainfully before diving in and picking the ones that he liked out.

“You know, it wouldn’t hurt to tidy up every once in a while,” he said as he did so.

“I know,” Wooseok sighed, “I just keep putting it off.”

“You’re lucky I’m your friend,” Yein said, “Because I must be the only person who can still pick out the best outfit for you while working with _this_ ,” he gestured to the closet.

And damn was he right again.

Wooseok’s final outfit for his date consisted of a white T-shirt that was tucked into a pair of black skinny jeans and a thin black belt. Over the T-shirt went an undone white button up and for shoes, Yein chose the sleek black loafers Wooseok’s parents had gotten him for his birthday.

“Simple,” he said, “But stylish and chic at the same time.”

Wooseok took the time to admire his finished look. It wasn’t the most extravagant makeover Yein had ever given him, but it felt good, right. His friend definitely knew what he was doing.

“Thank you so much, Yein,” he said, and he meant it.

“Don’t mention it,” the younger boy brushed him off, “You know I’ll take any chance to put makeup on you. Now, what time is your date?”

Wooseok checked the clock on his desk.

“18:30,” he replied.

“Perfect!” Yein smiled and clapped, “That gives you half an hour to tell me all of the details of who this guy is and how you met.”

He made himself comfortable on Wooseok’s bed and patted the cover next to him, encouraging his friend to sit down. The other boy did so and began the retelling of the story, starting with the spring tournament.

\---

Jinhyuk was already waiting outside the coffee shop they’d agreed to meet at when Wooseok arrived. He was leaning against a telephone pole and typing on his phone, his posture accentuating his height and making Wooseok’s heart skip a beat.

 _‘You haven’t even talked yet and you’re already like this?’_ his mind scolded him.

Jinhyuk noticed him before he’d reached him, looking up and offering him a small smile before putting his phone in the pocket of his ripped jeans.

Wooseok felt a bit overdressed compared to the boy’s more casual attire: a blue and white striped T-shirt, white denim jacket, ripped jeans and Converse. He wondered if he’d let Yein go overboard with preparations, wondered for a moment if Jinhyuk had thought of a different kind of meet-up than him.

His worry was rendered useless only mere seconds later, when Jinhyuk fixed him with a smile that could probably end all wars and said, “I’m glad you could make it,” with the sweetest voice Wooseok had ever heard, almost turning him into a pile of goo on the group.

Fuck, he _was_ whipped.

“I wasn’t going to set you up,” he replied, “That would have been a little mean.”

“Especially on our first date,” the taller boy added.

“Yeah,” Wooseok agreed, a little flustered by the statement, “That wouldn’t have been good.”

“Should we go inside?” Jinhyuk motioned to the café’s door and Wooseok nodded.

Jinhyuk scored a 10/10 in Wooseok’s mind when it came to the first part of their date. He was a proper gentleman, pushing the door open and even pulling his chair back and making sure he was comfortable before taking a seat himself. Wooseok hadn’t been on other dates prior to this one, but he had a feeling that he wouldn’t have thought to treat his date the way Jinhyuk was if he had.

A waitress came by, left two menus on the table for them and told them to let her know when they were ready. She gave them a smile that said that she knew the nature of their meet-up.

It would have been hard not to. The general atmosphere of the shop screamed ‘place for date’, not to mention that most of the other people in the shop were couples, though they were the only same sex one, with the exception of a middle-aged man who was on his laptop and a girl who was slowly sipping a massive cup of coffee and staring at one of the male waiters.

It made Wooseok a little flustered, something Jinhyuk picked up on as he saw him nervously look through the menu, eyes moving way too fast for him to be reading.

“Is everything okay?” he asked.

“Yes, sorry,” Wooseok apologised, “It’s just… I’ve never been on a date before.”

“I refuse to believe that,” Jinhyuk laughed, “There’s no way you don’t have half your school swooning over you.”

“A date with a guy,” Wooseok clarified, “I tried to take a girl out four years ago and… Yeah, I’ll leave it there.” He cringed, remembering his past awkwardness.

“I understand,” Jinhyuk nodded, he himself thinking of similar incidents, “Well, I’ll try my best to make you comfortable.”

“You’re doing fine so far, don’t worry,” Wooseok reassured him, “I feel like we should get to know each other a bit better for a start. We’ve met twice, but all I know about you is that your name is Jinhyuk and you play volleyball.”

“Hey, I could say the same about you!” the taller boy protested and Wooseok smirked.

“Let’s see, what more is there to me?” Jinhyuk leaned back in his seat and put his menu down, striking a pose as if he was deep in thought, “I have an older brother, I like playing video games, watching anime and holding hands.” He added the last one with a cheesy voice and an exaggerated expression.

“And warm hugs,” he added hurriedly.

“So, you’re a weeb and a Frozen fan,” Wooseok teased him.

“There is nothing wrong with enjoying Frozen as a teenager,” the taller boy protested, “And not all anime fans are weebs.”

The setter was about to continue his teasing when the waitress who’d greeted them stopped at their table and asked for their order.

“I’ll have a hot chocolate with hazelnut syrup,” Jinhyuk replied.

“And an iced americano for me,” Wooseok said. He went for his classic option instead of browsing through the endless list of coffees, syrups and toppings that did nothing but overwhelm him most of the time.

“Oh, and two pieces of chocolate cake,” Jinhyuk added as they handed the waitress their menus.

“Great, thank you very much,” she grinned and walked away.

“The chocolate cake here is amazing,” Jinhyuk said when she was gone, “You have to try it.”

They made small talk about their choices of order, more specifically the fact that the taller boy didn’t drink coffee and his disbelief that someone who looked as innocent and sweet as Wooseok enjoyed a drink that bitter.

“I guess there’s more to me than meets the eye,” Wooseok smirked.

“I have to find out more about you now,” Jinhyuk said, “After this plot twist, I feel like I have to brace myself for more surprises.”

“Trust me, I’m quite boring apart from the fact that I like coffee,” the other shook his head, “Let’s see… Like you, I play volleyball and my team means the world to me. I’m a third-year in high school, but I still don’t know what I want to do after school. I like videogames and I bet I’ll be able to kick your ass in most of them.”

“That’s something we’ll have to test some time,” Jinhyuk commented.

“Deal,” Wooseok agreed. He knew that he was going to win anyway.

He’d had limited conversations with Jinhyuk before, but the taller boy was nice so far. They were having a nice time and talking without getting bored. When their orders arrived, it felt like no time had passed since they’d ordered.

He eagerly listened to the spiker explain that one of the reasons he liked this coffee shop was because they served cold drinks with paper straws instead of plastic ones and how important that was for the environment and baby turtles, only then noticing that the straw he was sipping his coffee with had a different texture from the ones he was used to.

Jinhyuk could be quite the chatterbox, he realised after the other had gone from paper straws to the latest Frozen movie, but he liked listening to his voice and sipped at his coffee while he did so.

“Aish, it’s just me talking,” the boy scolded himself, “I’m sorry, I can get ahead of myself sometimes.”

“It’s okay,” his date reassured him, “You have a nice voice.” Immediately after saying that he cringed and shook his head as if trying to clear his mind. “That’s probably the weirdest compliment you’ve ever heard.”

“Trust me,” Jinhyuk laughed, “I once had someone say that I have strong toes.”

“Volleyball coach?” Wooseok guessed and was rewarded with vigorous nodding.

“My first proper coach,” Jinhyuk replied, “I was so weirded out by it.”

“And then you realised that volleyball coaches compliment everything no one else does,” Wooseok added.

“Yes!” Jinhyuk exclaimed, and the two burst out laughing.

“The first time someone told me that I have nice hands I almost quit volleyball,” Wooseok confessed.

“Oh God, you’re a setter too,” the other boy bent over, laughing, “You must hear it all the time.”

“It’s one of those things you get used to,” Wooseok said, causing him to nod in agreement, “I get offended if they don’t get complimented now.”

“Oh, you do?” Jinhyuk said.

Before the setter could react, the taller boy reached over from his side of the table and cupped his hand over his where they were holding his cup of coffee.

 _‘Smooth,’_ Wooseok thought, a shiver running through his body when Jinhyuk’s skin made contact with his.

He let go of the cup and let the spiker turn his hand over and stroke it lightly with his thumb a few times. Then, as if in sync, they interlocked their fingers.

Wooseok felt his cheeks heat up as they looked up and their gazes met. What kind of power did this one boy have that made him feel this way?

He’d had crushes before, or at least he thought he had, because in such a small time frame Jinhyuk had managed to make him judge everything he’d ever thought he knew.

“They _are_ nice hands,” Jinhyuk told him, smiling, without letting go.

Wooseok made no attempt to pull away.

He reached out with his available hand to grab one of the forks the waitress had brought them and take a bit of the chocolate cake. As soon as he’d swallowed it, he wrapped his lips around his straw and took quick sips of his coffee. He didn’t trust his voice to not embarrass him, so he chose to busy himself in order to not speak.

He let Jinhyuk hold his hand for the remainder of their date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ngl I thought about abandoning this and making a story just about Yein for a bit XD I love this boy so much haha. I'm really bad at writing romantic stuff too, so I apologise if it's terrible. I tried. Please let me know what you thought in the comments. I love chatting with my readers! Thank you so much for reading and I'll see you again asap!! <3


	6. Boyz With Fun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So something amazing happened. 
> 
> [Mapachi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mapachi/pseuds/Mapachi) my dear friend and one of my favourite writers read my story! I want to say thank you one more time, you're the reason I was able to pick myself up from my slump and write the next chapter. If you haven't read her stories, then have you been living under a rock?! They're all amazing and I would recommend them all. Flowers in particular is a precious gem. Please go send her some love and also check out the moodboard she made for this story [here](https://twitter.com/Mapachiii/status/1248514108711985153?s=20).
> 
> Playlist for this chapter:  
> 1Team - Vibe  
> BTS - Boyz With Fun  
> We Know John - Next Time  
> X1 - Like Always  
> Stray Kids - Astronaut

The ball Minhee had tried serving crashed into Hangyul’s side, which was surprising given the fact that the older boy was standing not only quite far away, but also on the opposite side of the gym of the one Minhee had been aiming at.

The first-year turned an impressive shade of red and ran to the blocker, bowing in apology again and again while Hangyul tried to reassure him that he was completely fine and he didn’t need to worry.

“Maybe try controlling your force,” Wooseok advised the younger boy when he came back, expression still morphed into one of horror. Nevertheless, Minhee accepted the ball the setter offered him.

 _‘And your sense of direction,’_ Wooseok thought, but said nothing.

They could tackle the small issues one at a time. It was alright. They were going to be fine.

It was hard to believe that it was already over a week since school had started and even less since the eleven boys had started practicing together as a team. Time had gone by unexpectedly fast.

The second and third-years had taken it upon themselves to make the younger boys feel comfortable around them and to get them to open up. Some of them had warmed up to them quickly, while others seemed a bit more hesitant, but they were starting to look more and more like a proper team.

Seungwoo had taken a liking to Dongpyo practically from the minute the younger boy had walked through the gym’s doors. Even though the younger boy wasn’t in his practice group, the leader did his best to help Dongpyo train, especially after they’d learned that the first-year was a libero.

Wooseok couldn’t remember their team ever having a libero before. Wanna One had had one, Ha Sungwoon, but that was all he knew. He hadn’t even met him. Needless to say, coaching a libero wasn’t something they’d been preparing for and they had been caught off guard when the small boy had introduced himself as “Son Dongpyo, a libero with three years of experience”. He had been put in Hangyul’s group of average skill players and the second-year had done his best tossing balls to him to practice his reflexes and receives.

Seungwoo had joined in as an added element of challenge while he let Hyeongjun practice with Seungyoun’s charges and the next thing Wooseok knew, he and Dongpyo were sharing snacks, Dongpyo wrapped around his classmate like a koala. It felt like watching a child with his parent.

Seungwoo had been dubbed as Dongpyo’s dad since that day.

Another boy who was opening up quickly was Dohyon.

Despite being the youngest in the team, he proven to be quite the social butterfly, quickly befriending the rest of the first-years before moving onto Hangyul and Seungyoun. The two older boys adored him and had tried on multiple occasions to steal him from Wooseok’s practice group in order to hang out with him. The trio had become a nightmare in the sense that the gym was never quiet unless they were at least six meters apart from one another. And they’d thought just Hangyul and Seungyoun were too loud…

Minhee and Hyeongjun had come into the team already knowing each other, so they had stuck to one another in the beginning, but had branched out after being put in different practice groups and made friends with some of the other boys.

Hyeongjun and Eunsang in particular had grabbed the upperclassmen’s attention with their cute antics that even Dohyon couldn’t resist. They had seen the two boys chase after their youngest while threatening him to stop calling them cute when they were both older than him too many times for just one week of knowing each other.

The only one who was seemingly still having issues integrating with the team was Junho.

When Seungyoun had brought it up during a “hyung line meeting”, as Seungwoo had called it, Yohan had been quick to deny it, stating instead that he had noticed Junho start to open up and show his colours. It was a claim that had surprised the others, but they trusted Yohan; he had no reason to lie and spent the most time with the first-year among the older boys due to walking home with him every day. They would just have to wait and see for themselves.

Something else that all five of them had noticed was that the beginners were already improving with their skills. Not only Yohan, but Minhee and Dohyon too. After helping them with their tosses, Wooseok had moved on to teaching them how to serve. Dohyon had mastered the skill almost immediately and while Minhee’s were still a bit off, he had gotten the basic technique down a lot faster than they had expected.

They were all willing to learn, and the older boys admired that.

It was all they had wanted, really: teammates that were truly passionate about the sport.

(And a chance to go to tournaments, but they hadn’t talked about that yet.)

It made Wooseok beam with pride as he watched Junho, Eunsang and Hyeongjun play together with Seungyoun, Hangyul and Seungwoo throwing balls at Dongpyo and the first-year receiving them most of the time and Yohan and the rest of the first-years throwing serves and giving each other advice.

They looked like a team.

“Hey,” Seungyoun suddenly spoke up, “Want to try a mini match?”

The eleven boys exchanged glances.

“All of us together?” Wooseok asked him for clarification.

“Yes,” the spiker replied, “We’ve been practicing in groups for a while now. I think it would be good to see how we work together.”

“Good idea!” Hangyul agreed excitedly.

“What do you think, hyung?” Yohan turned to Seungwoo.

Nine more heads immediately turned to the direction of their leader with questioning looks on their faces.

Seungwoo looked deep in thought, considering Seungyoun’s option but wondering if they were ready for a practice match at the same time. There were two sides to every coin, and in this case as much as he knew that it would help build teamwork and give the younger members a better idea of what a match is like, he didn’t want them to feel inadequate and like they weren’t good enough to play with the rest of them yet.

After a beat of silence and internal conflict, the leader spoke up. “Sure, let’s try,” he said.

Seungwoo became the leader of one team and the rest played rock paper scissors to determine the other one. Hyeongjun won, and the two played another round to see who would get to pick someone for their team first. The eldest won that round and turned to their teammates, eyeing each of them and trying to decide who he was going to choose.

“Dongpyo,” he finally announced.

The libero cheered and ran to his hyung’s side, smiling widely and wrapping his arms around him almost immediately. Seungwoo returned both the smile and the embrace.

Hyeongjun looked around before naming Minhee as the first member of his team.

They went back and forth after that, Seungwoo picking Yohan, Seungyoun and Dohyon while Hyeongjun got Wooseok, Hangyul and Eunsang.

Junho wasn’t selected by anyone and therefore joined Seungwoo’s team.

Wooseok couldn’t help but feel a little bad for him as the boy moved to the leader’s side. Not being picked always hurt. He saw Yohan give him a smile and fist bump when they met up, though, and the slightest smile ghosted Junho’s features. Perhaps Yohan was right and there _was_ a side to the boy that they hadn’t seen yet.

Seungwoo’s team got to serve first, Seungyoun stepping back to execute the serve.

“Let’s have fun, guys,” he said loudly before tossing the ball in the air and hitting it.

It flew over the net and into the other team’s side. Luckily, Hangyul had been calculating where it was going to land and managed to receive it, sending it right into Wooseok’s direction. The setter stepped back slightly to adjust his position and tossed the ball forward as soon as it landed in his hands. Eunsang had already taken a few steps towards him, making it clear that he wanted to spike it, so Wooseok aimed it in his direction. Eunsang jumped and hit it.

The members of the opposite team jumped up to block him at the right time, Seungwoo sending the ball back into their side of the court, where it landed with a thud before they had a chance to reach it.

“Nice!” Yohan and Seungwoo high-fived as Minhee, who had run after the ball, sent it back to their side.

Seungyoun grabbed it and stepped back again to serve.

Once again, the ball flew over the net. This time though, it was Hyeongjun who received it, with a bit too much force, as it bumped onto the net and started dropping into the other side of the court. With expert reflexes, Dongpyo dove for it as soon as he noticed it. It hit the back of his outstretched hand and flew back up, right where Seungwoo needed it so that he could toss it to Yohan who spiked it.

“Out!” Hangyul called out as he saw Minhee and Eunsang run after it. And, just like his prediction, the ball landed just a few centimetres outside the court.

“Ah, don’t mind,” Seungyoun reassured Yohan, “We’ll get our lead back.”

The ball went to Hyeongjun’s team and their leader was in the position to deliver the serve.

“Mine!” Seungyoun called for the ball, receiving it as if flew into their side of the court.

He sent it in Dohyon’s direction and Wooseok saw the moment of panic when the youngest member of the team realised that it was coming his way. He knew that Seungyoun had done that so the boy could practice what he’d been learning and hoped that he would work past the initial shock and show his skills.

If anyone knew what Dohyon was capable of, it was Wooseok.

In a split second, the first-year’s features shifted from shock to determination. He lifted his arms like Wooseok had taught him and when the ball came to him, he jumped up and tossed it.

The toss wasn’t aimed at anything or anyone, but it was executed well, and it was powerful. Yohan ended up running to it and spiking it anyway, so it didn’t matter.

What they all noticed was Dohyon’s high-pitched scream of disbelief after he’d sent the ball soaring across the court and his wide smile.

Yohan’s spike crashed into the back of their court before they could reach it, but most of the team was focused on praising Dohyon.

“That was great!” Hangyul cheered, grabbing him by the shoulders as the boy smiled wide-eyed, still in disbelief.

“Congratulations, Dohyonie!” Seungyoun clapped.

“You did amazing,” Wooseok praised him, fondness overtaking him as the boy looked at him with admiration.

“Good job, Dohyon!” Eunsang was grinning widely at the youngest, offering his hand for a high five that the boy took.

They continued to shower the boy with praises until he got too flustered, after which they began to coddle him. It was Hangyul who reminded everyone of the game they had been playing.

“Let’s get back to the game then,” he concluded his Dohyon appreciation session, “Now that Dohyon is confident, there’s no knowing what they’re going to do. So, let’s get back to work and kick their a-butts.” He hurried to reword his last phrase after receiving a sharp glare from Seungwoo.

Wooseok rolled his eyes as they got back into positions; if Seungwoo wasn’t going to admit how much like a parent he was treating the team members, then he was going to have to install hidden cameras in the gym to capture the evidence and show him himself.

As they readjusted into their spots, he saw the leader pull Dohyon aside. “That was very good, Dohyon,” he heard him say due to his position being near the net, “But next time try aiming at someone who can catch your toss. If you’re not sure who you can always call out to one of us. It’s just a practice game among us so it’s okay.” Wooseok then saw the eldest lean closer to Dohyon and whisper, “Try tossing to Junho. He looks like he’s feeling a bit left out.”

It was only then that Wooseok realised how withdrawn Junho had been throughout the game. He hadn’t gone for any spikes, unlike Yohan, despite his position being a spiker and having experience in playing. In fact, the only thing he’d seen him do is run for the ball when it had looked like it was going to land in their side of the court.

They’d all been so focused on the game that none of them had noticed.

Except for their leader. And now he was telling the rest of his teammates to help so that the boy felt more included and a proper member of the team.

Wooseok felt like he was repeating himself, but he couldn’t help but think that Seungwoo was the best leader they could have asked for. His Jihoon-hyung had been right.

Seungwoo was the next to serve for his team. Once again, Hyeongjun received it well and Hangyul tossed it to Eunsang to serve. The spiker avoided the other team’s blockers well and it seemed like they were going to score another point, but Dongpyo was fast and received the ball.

“Mine!” Yohan called for it and went into position to toss.

As he did so, Junho started running to the front and spiked the ball powerfully when Yohan’s toss was given to him. It was an impressive spike, it sent the ball to the back of the other team’s court where it would have landed if Minhee hadn’t run to receive it.

Sadly, however, it bounced off of his arms and flew to the outside of the court. It touched the ground before Wooseok or Eunsang could reach it.

“Good job, Minhee,” the setter complimented the younger boy, “You were faster to reach it than any of us.”

“I could have done better, though,” Minhee said pouting.

“There’s always next time,” Hangyul gave him a pat on the back in reassurance and went back to his position.

Seungwoo served again. Wooseok received it and Eunsang tossed it to Hyeongjun after getting hold of it, but sadly the first-year was blocked by the other team and the ball ended up back in their side of the court, where it landed with a thud.

They were 4-1 now and Wooseok could see his team members, particularly the younger ones, get increasingly discouraged.

Usually, this would be the time when the team’s leader would take initiative and encourage his teammates or offer strategy ideas to improve their gameplay. Hyeongjun was their leader, but the first-year seemed awkward about his position. Wooseok couldn’t blame him, he was the youngest person in their team (second youngest in the whole team) and it mustn’t be easy to be expected to order the older members around.

It seemed like both he and Hangyul had picked up on it, so they took it upon themselves to cheer their leader, Eunsang and Minhee up.

“Come on, guys, let’s not lose our spirit,” Hangyul said, clapping to try and get a reaction, “It’s not too long into the game. We can totally turn this around.”

“Let’s just focus on defending the back a bit more,” Wooseok suggested, “Good work with your receive, Minhee. If we keep working on it you’re going to be great for defence.”

“And your spike too, Hyeongjunie,” Hangyul added, “It was very strong. It’s a shame you got blocked and couldn’t show them everything you’ve got.”

“Don’t forget about Eunsang,” Wooseok continued, “He’s always so quick to run for a spike and you can tell he has experience playing. They’re always spot on.”

The first-years seemed flustered and weren’t expecting to receive such praise, but they were also visibly looking more motivated, which meant that the two older members had accomplished their goal. They were ready to get back to their game.

Seungwoo served for the third time. With renewed enthusiasm, Minhee once again attempted to receive the ball. Sadly, it once again bounced right off of his arms and outside the court.

The boy grit his teeth in frustration, but he dug his heels into the ground firmly, as if trying to make his position steadier. It was clear determination if Wooseok had ever seen it, and it made him smile with pride.

Seungwoo’s fourth serve in a row was clearly aimed at the first-year. Wooseok had played games like this before, so he knew what was going on in his teammates’ minds. They weren’t necessarily trying to win but trying to get the younger members out of their comfort zones and help them improve their skills. That’s what Seungyoun’s pass to Dohyon, Yohan’s toss to Junho and now Seungwoo’s serve were.

The leader could clearly see what Wooseok was seeing: Minhee’s will to get better. He was giving him the chance to do just that.

This time, when the ball came in contact with Minhee’s ready arms, it didn’t fly off and outside the court, it went up.

“Nice!” Wooseok exclaimed and rushed to where he judged it would be landing.

His prediction was correct, and he tossed the ball to Hangyul who spiked it. The other team’s blockers tried to stop him, but he saw on time and aimed his spike towards the opposite direction of the court.

The ball had almost landed on the ground when Dongpyo dived and managed to send it up again with a last minute save.

“Thank you, Dongpyo,” Seungwoo said as he tossed the ball to Seungyoun.

The third-year spiked, but Wooseok, Hangyul and Eunsang were faster. They jumped to block him and sent his spike right back into the other team’s court. Both Junho and Dongpyo were only a few centimetres away from it as it landed on the ground.

The team cheered at their victory.

“Minhee!” Seungyoun called out as they were all high-fiving each other, “Nice receive!”

The boy looked like he was glowing. A smile none of them had seen was on his face and his eyes were scrunched up as a result of it. For the first time the ten boys noticed that Minhee’s posture was usually slouched, because now he was standing straight and proud. They remembered the time he’d come to practice late and looking dejected and couldn’t see how that boy and the one smiling at them now could be the same person.

Each of the first-year boys seemed to need an extra nudge to move on and improve, and their five upperclassmen were ready to give it to them and see how far they would fly.

“We’re just three points away now,” Minhee said, tossing Wooseok the volley ball as the setter stepped back to serve for their team, “We can turn it around!”

“We’ve got this,” Wooseok winked at him and served.

Despite the fact that their spirits were renewed, Seungwoo’s team still managed to stay in the lead most of the time.

Twenty minutes later the score was 24-21 in the six-member team’s favour. Eunsang’s spike landed in the other team’s side and scored them their 21st point. It was a tough spot, because one wrong move and the game would be over with them losing. Cautiously, Hangyul walked to the back and bounced the ball a few times (what Seungyoun called his weird pre-serve ritual) before serving.

The ball flew over the net and into Dongpyo’s waiting arms, flying back into the air. For such a small boy, though, his receive had a lot of power and the ball ended up going all the way to the other team’s side of the court.

“Sorry! Sorry!” he started apologising as soon as he saw his teammates try to jump up to reach it and failing.

“Don’t mind it,” Seungyoun reassured him.

Wooseok got to the ball first, it hadn’t gone too far away from the net, and tossed it to Hangyul. The second-year spiked and sent the ball into the opposite court, but Seungyoun passed it to Dohyon who in turn tossed it to Yohan.

Yohan’s spike would have landed in their side if Minhee hadn’t dived to it and sent it back up.

“Thank you, Minhee!” Eunsang said, running to the ball and tossing it to Hyeongjun.

Hyeongjun saw the other team’s blockers and sent his spike in the opposite direction of the one he had originally aimed, throwing them off. However, Seungwoo, Junho and Yohan had been guarding the back, and Junho managed to catch the ball and not let it touch the ground. He tossed it to Seungyoun and the third-year went for the spike.

Wooseok, Hangyul and Eunsang jumped to block him, but it seemed like the spiker had anticipated it and timed his jump at the right moment so his spike would go over their waiting hands and land into the back of the court before the two other boys from their team had time to reach it.

Seungwoo’s team scored 25 points and won the game.

The team gathered in a circle and cheered in victory, even forming a big group hug and jumping up and down. Seungyoun was jumping the highest and cheering the loudest and even Junho seemed to be having the time of his life.

Meanwhile, the opposite team let out a collective sigh of frustration. It was a shame that they’d lost, but they’d tried their best.

“It’s okay,” Hangyul reassured the younger boys, “We’ll show them next time.”

He and Wooseok coaxed Hyeongjun, Eunsang and Minhee to do a cheer of their own to celebrate how well they’d played. They each added their own little interpretive dance at the end, causing them to laugh and draw the other team’s attention.

“Come here, opponents,” they heard Seungwoo address them dramatically, “We have to shake hands to end the game properly!”

The two teams lined up and made a show of shaking everyone’s hand, the winners with looks of exaggerated joy and snobbish attitudes, while the others pretending that they were either crying or trying to crush their hands with their handshakes. When they got to the end of both lines, they ended up laughing again.

They thanked each other for the good game and then ran to their gym bags, desperate for a drink of water. They had been having so much fun playing that most of them hadn’t even realised how thirsty they were getting and were now gulping down water like they’d just discovered a lake after being lost in the desert for a week.

But the important thing was that they’d had fun.

Even with the small bumps in the road each team had encountered, they’d enjoyed themselves and gotten to know one another better as players. Seungyoun had been right to suggest this.

“Nice game.”

The unexpected voice caused them all to turn around in surprise.

Wooseok didn’t register everything that happened next.

It wasn’t possible to register everything.

He knew that Dohyon and Seungyoun had screamed and that Yohan started choking on water.

Seungwoo and Dongpyo must have already been attached to one another like always, but from the corner of his eye Wooseok could see Dongpyo clutching onto his hyung harder than he’d ever seen him, and Seungwoo’s eyes were wide and one of his hands was covering his open mouth, an expression of shock and happiness written all over his face.

He didn’t see any of his other team members, and quite frankly they weren’t his main focus at that moment.

Because Lee Dongwook was standing in front of the door to their gym.

A crash brought him out of his stupor, and he turned to see that Junho had dropped the water bottle that he’d been holding.

The boy instantly picked it up and apologised, but Wooseok had turned back to where he had been staring, blinking intensely as if it was going to make his vision clearer or rid it of this hallucination, because there was no way Lee Dongwook, _the_ Lee Dongwook, star player of Korea’s men’s volleyball team and one of the most famous volleyball players worldwide was standing in their pathetic gym and talking to them.

Yohan stopped coughing and silence fell upon them once again. Eleven boys stared at one man and he stared back at them. No one knew what they should say. Was it even appropriate to speak in that situation?

Lee Dongwook was the first to break the ice. “Ah, I apologise,” he said, “I should have given you some warning first instead of walking in unannounced. But you were playing a game and seemed so focused that I didn’t want to ruin it.”

 _‘He’d been watching us play?’_ Wooseok thought, _‘Just how long was he standing there and we didn’t even notice him?’_

“I should introduce myself,” the man continued, “I’m-”

He didn’t have a chance to complete his sentence before Minhee cut him.

“You’re Lee Dongwook,” he said, his tone indicating that he wasn’t sure if he was seeing things or not, “The National team’s ace.”

“ _Former_ ace,” Lee Dongwook corrected him, reminding them that yes, that had indeed happened, “But other than that you’re right. I’m Lee Dongwook and I’m happy to meet you.”

“But- You- We- But-” Hangyul stumbled over his words, “What are you- I mean I’m honoured, sir, don’t get me wrong, I’m sure we all are, but I’m sure you have better things to do than watch some high schoolers play volleyball.”

“Oh! I forgot!” the man exclaimed, “Starting today I will be your coach.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this was worth the wait. Also hope the game wasn't too bad. My only volleyball knowledge comes from Haikyuu and I don't know if I wrote it well, so please give me feedback.  
> Thanks so much for reading. Go give my friend and Cravity (babies) some love <3


	7. Mixed Signals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe it's almost been a month since the last update... This will probably feel like an excuse, but university has been so stressful recently I've barely had time to do anything. Teachers have decided that now is the right time to overload us with work and let me tell you, it's really not! The only thing that helped me be productive with writing was the lovely comments on the last chapters and of course my darling friends [blobfishbells](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blobfishbells/pseuds/blobfishbells), [Manahil571](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Manahil571/pseuds/Manahil571), [chwyn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chwyn/pseuds/chwyn) and [Mapachi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mapachi/pseuds/Mapachi) whose works you should DEFINITELY check out!! What are you still doing here?! I told you to go check them out!!!!
> 
> Playlist  
> Astro - One&Only  
> Up10tion - Mixed Signals  
> MCND - Stereotypes  
> Golden Child - Let Me

Dohyon and Seungyoun screamed for the second time, except this time they were joined by Hyeongjun and Yohan, while the rest of the members of the volleyball team let out similar sounds of surprise, shock, disbelief and excitement.

Wooseok couldn’t blame them. Not with everything that he was seeing and hearing.

He remembered the conversation they’d had with principal Ma a week ago and wondered if the man had known that it was Lee Dongwook who had volunteered to be their coach. How had he faced them and talked to them so calmly? And why hadn’t he told them?

The easy answer to that was that it was principal Ma; it wasn’t like he had ever cared about the volleyball team. It probably didn’t matter to him at all if they even had a coach or if a world star had come to coach them.

But why them?

There were so many high schools that had volleyball teams that Lee Dongwook could have chosen to train. Hell, Bonyang High School was just a few blocks away! They surely had a team that was stronger than them that he could go help out. It wasn’t even an assumption, it was a fact, Wooseok had seen it with this own to eyes at the spring tournament and had heard about Bonyang’s team. They were famous, had been for years and years unlike Cheondae High School.

It didn’t make sense.

Wooseok was half expecting the man standing in front of them to start laughing and reveal to them that he had been joking before leaving. _That_ would make sense, it would be logical and he would understand it. But the man was doing the exact opposite of that.

He was looking around the gym as if he was taking it in and waiting for them to say something. He must have known how much of an impact his statement had had on them or he wouldn’t be giving them this time. Wooseok wished that he would give them some confirmation, some reassurance, _something_ to help them process the information better, because he knew that he wasn’t the only one having a hard time trying to do so.

His teammates seemed to only now be recovering from the initial shock, but they were still very confused. He heard some of the boys start whispering to one another, but it was Eunsang tapping his shoulder hesitantly that ultimately got his attention.

“I’m not dreaming, am I, hyung?” the young boy whispered, eyes large, “Is Lee Dongwook really here to be our coach?”

“If you’re dreaming then we must be having the same dream,” Wooseok replied, “Want me to check?” He reached out to pinch Eunsang’s arm, smirking, but he squealed and pulled it away.

“Hyung!” he whined and smiled playfully.

Their small exchange caused their teammates and Lee Dongwook to turn and look at them and the two boys felt a bit awkward again.

“Is everything alright?” their new coach asked.

They nodded.

“Excuse me, sir,” Seungwoo spoke up.

“Hyung, please,” the older man interrupted him.

“Hyung,” their leader sounded flustered just at the thought of addressing such an important person like that, “Are you sure that you want to do this?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” the other asked, confused.

“We’re only a small team,” Seungwoo answered, “We don’t have records or trophies or a huge history of success or anything. I’m sure there are other teams that have so many more chances than us and could benefit from your knowledge. Why not just pick one of them instead?”

Lee Dongwook’s expression morphed into something Wooseok couldn’t decipher. If he examined it closely, though, it looked like a combination of sadness, disappointment but also anger, and he honestly didn’t like the thought of having to face any of those.

“Who is the team’s leader?” the volleyball player asked.

Seungwoo raised his hand and the man’s frown deepened.

“You’re the leader but you sound like you have no faith in your team,” he said.

Seungwoo looked taken aback at first but then seemed to realise where the man was coming from. He looked at his teammates sadly, almost like he was apologising to them, before lowering his head.

The sight made Wooseok’s blood boil. Seungwoo had always been someone so strong in his eyes and the best leader they could have asked for. He’d proven himself countless times from the moment he’d been appointed as one, made so many sacrifices for them and treated them so much better than he’d needed to. He could have easily done nothing and let them fend for themselves, but he hadn’t. And Wooseok wasn’t going to let someone beat his leader down with that knowledge, even if that person was Lee Dongwook.

“That’s not true,” he spoke up, “It’s just hard to have high hopes when no one supports you, not even your own school!”

Lee Dongwook turned to look at him, and if Wooseok felt a bit intimidated he didn’t let it show.

“That’s when you have to try even harder,” the man said, looking him right in the eye, “If someone tells you that you can’t do something, then you work ten times, a hundred times, harder to prove them wrong.” He directed the second part of his statement to the entire team.

They all nodded in agreement.

“To answer your question,” Lee Dongwook said, turning to address Seungwoo this time, despite the fact that the leader was still looking down, “I chose to coach your team because I watched you play last year at the spring tournament.”

This was supposed to answer the biggest question, the elephant in the room, but it did nothing to help. At least it didn’t to Wooseok. Why would this star volleyball player be inspired after seeing their performance at the spring tournament? They’d played two games and only won one. He would need a much better explanation than that.

“You played with passion,” the older man continued, “And you encouraged each other. It had been a long time since I’d last seen teamwork like that. And in volleyball you could be the best player or have the strongest players in your team, but if you’re not working together well, you’ll end up losing. Even now when I was watching you play your teamwork was evident. Are there any new members?”

The first years raised their arms.

“I wouldn’t have been able to tell,” Lee Dongwook said, “You integrated so well into the team that I would have thought you’d known each other for years. I was surprised to see that. It seems like it’s a Cheondae thing.”

“We had good upperclassmen who welcomed us into the team and treated us like family,” Seungyoun said, “We felt like it would be embarrassing to not try and do the same for the new members. And I think our hyungs had good ones who helped them too.”

Seungwoo, Wooseok, Yohan and Hangyul nodded in agreement. They hoped that the younger boys would get to meet their caring hyungs someday as well.

“I see,” Lee Dongwook nodded, “That’s very nice of you. Now,” he clapped his hands, “Like I mentioned before, I will be coaching you this year, so I think we should start working together and getting to know each other. You just finished a game so I’ll give you a few minutes to catch your breath and then we can introduce ourselves. What do you think?”

“Yes, thank you,” they all replied, almost simultaneously.

“That’s what I meant!” their coach smiled widely, “Teamwork!”

They smiled back at him and then turned back to what they’d been doing before he had appeared and shocked them, while the other man sat down at one of the benches and busied himself with looking through his bag.

Even though they’d been reassured that this was reality, the boys were still having a hard time processing everything that had happened. They were talking amongst themselves, fanboying quietly so their coach wouldn’t hear them and exchanging stories they had about admiring Lee Dongwook or seeing him on TV. Hangyul’s story about going to a match and watching him play a few years ago as a birthday present from his family got a lot of attention and most of the team members ended up gathering around him to listen to it.

Wooseok didn’t join them, having heard the story multiple times before, and pulled his phone out of his bag instead. He smiled at the sight of two messages from Jinhyuk and quickly unlocked the device to read them.

His heart skipped a beat when he saw that one of them was a selfie of Jinhyuk in a white sweater and hair damp with sweat in what he could only assume was a volleyball gym.

The second message served as a caption to it, saying ‘At practice’.

Wooseok typed out a response.

 **You:** Don’t slack off

 **You:** Focus on your training

It took only a few seconds for him to get a reply.

 **Jinhyuk:** I’m noooot TT

 **Jinhyuk:** We’re taking a break

 **Jinhyuk:** And you’re doing the same thing so you can’t talk

 **You:** Touché

 **You:** I’m never texting you before practice again so you won’t be able to say that

 **Jinhyuk:** You’re so mean TT

Wooseok giggled. In the time he’d known Jinhyuk, the other boy had shown many sides, from his smooth flirty side to his completely childish one, and Wooseok would be lying if he said that he didn’t find them all perfect in their own way. He was falling deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole that was infatuation and he didn’t think he could stop his descent.

Didn’t think he wanted to either.

He started typing another message when he felt an arm drape around his shoulders and jumped in surprise, turning his phone off on instinct to hide the messages. He relaxed when he saw that it was just Yohan.

“Who are you texting?” the second-year asked him cheekily.

“My dad,” Wooseok replied calmly.

“With those heart eyes I hope you weren’t,” Yohan retorted and visibly cringed.

“Gross,” Wooseok did the same, “Okay, I was lying. But that’s all you’re going to know.” He moved to leave, but the younger boy hugged his arm tightly, keeping him in place.

“Was it your date?” Yohan grinned slyly.

“That’s none of your business, you brat,” Wooseok answered, trying to pull his arm away.

“Come on, Wooseokie-hyung, please tell me!” Yohan whined, holding on tighter.

“You’re cutting my blood circulation off, Yohan,” the setter complained.

“I’ll let go if you tell me,” the spiker giggled, leaning his head on his friend’s shoulder and nuzzling it like a cat.

“We really should have kept the receipt for you,” Wooseok said but smiled at him fondly. He liked teasing his teammates, but he never wanted them to forget how much he cared for them and what they meant to him.

“Hyung,” Yohan whined, “You love me too much to return me.”

“You know that you’re right, brat,” Wooseok combed a hand through the younger’s hair, but right when the boy had relaxed into the touch, he grabbed onto some tufts of hair and pulled.

Yohan yelped and called for him to stop, but Wooseok was busy laughing at his reaction. He didn’t even notice his teammate pull his arms away from his and latch onto his hair instead. It was his turn to cry out and try to whack Yohan away, but it only turned into the two of them going around in circles, both trying to get the other off of them while not letting go at the same time.

What eventually made them stop was their new coach coughing to get their attention. He even called their names out after asking the others what they were. The two boys immediately stopped their play fight and turned to face the rest of their team who had gathered around Lee Dongwook and were looking at them, waiting so that they could proceed with their discussion.

Flustered, Wooseok and Yohan made their way to them, fixing their appearance before sitting down beside their members.

“Now that the two puppies are here,” Dongwook commented, giving the two newcomers a small smile, “We can begin by introducing ourselves. I’m not the best with names, but I will try to memorise as many of them as possible until next time. Hopefully by the end of the year I’ll know your names and numbers too.”

Some members of the team laughed at his comment and proceeded to give a short introduction of themselves. Dongwook listened to everyone carefully and even took notes on everything they said. Wooseok still wasn’t sure what his opinion of the older man was. On one hand, he was a respected figure, and very skilled in volleyball, but he didn’t like the way he’d spoken to Seungwoo earlier. He didn’t care who someone was, no one insulted his teammates and got away with it.

He then let them get back to their practice. He said that he wanted to see how they worked before they started more organised training, so they went back to their small groups and started working.

Wooseok suggested that Dohyon and Minhee practice serving and receiving, so he led them to one of the divided sections of the net, Dohyon on one side and Minhee on the other. Each one would take turns serving and the other would try to receive it.

He had only just explained it to them when a small voice spoke up.

“Wooseokie-hyung.”

He turned around and there was Hyeongjun. Hangyul and Eunsang were standing next to him with questioning looks, making Wooseok think that they didn’t know why the first-year was there either.

“And Minhee,” the blocker added, and this gave Wooseok a slight idea. The members he’d gathered had been the ones that had played together during the practice match.

“I just wanted to say that I’m sorry for not being a good leader before,” Hyeongjun said, “I should have been more responsible for the team, but the hyungs had to do my job instead.”

The boy was starting to tear up and his bottom lip was trembling, but Hangyul spoke up to try and comfort him.

“It’s alright, Hyeongjunie,” he said, “We’re all older than you, it’s natural that you would feel a little awkward being the authoritative one. We’re not mad at you, and I bet neither are Eunsang or Minhee.”

The other two first-years nodded vigorously and Minhee pulled the small blocker into his arms. “See? The hyungs aren’t mad,” he reassured him, “There was no need to worry.”

“We lost though,” Hyeongjun muttered, his voice wet, “You all tried so hard, but we didn’t do well because I wasn’t a good leader.”

By the end of the sentence, he had started crying, and the rest of his small team had gathered around him to help calm him down. Their words, however, were falling on deaf ears and Hyeongjun only cried harder as his emotions got the best of him.

“Is someone crying? What’s going on?” Seungyoun’s voice echoed through the gym.

It only took a few seconds for the remaining six boys to notice the situation and rush to their teammates’ side. Each of them tried their best to make Hyeongjun stop crying, or at least cheer him up and make him smile, even Dongwook joined in, giving the first-year a hug and stroking his hair to help him calm down.

Once Hyeongjun was, mostly, back to normal, they resumed their practice under the careful eye of their coach. He watched how they taught the younger boys who still needed help and how they worked together to bring the team closer, taking notes regularly and giving a responsible image. Occasionally, he would ask one of the members to remind him their name or correct someone’s position, but he mostly observed their current method.

Wooseok felt conflicted, as the man was showing a very different side from the initial imposing one he’d had when he’d first walked in. Where he’d been rough and harsh, he was now gentle and soft-spoken. He’d made such a bad impression on him with the way he’d spoken to Seungwoo, almost ruining the image Wooseok had had of the volleyball player, but now he was slowly gaining his respect back.

A question that kept lingering in his mind, though, was how had he missed Lee Dongwook at the spring tournament?

The other guys he could understand, they’d been busy playing and trying to win the games they’d been assigned to and hadn’t paid much attention to the audience. He, on the other hand, hadn’t played with them and had spent the entire day watching them from the bleachers, he’d gotten a pretty clear view of the audience.

Someone like Lee Dongwook attending would have been obvious, he thought. If not by him spotting him in the crowd, then by someone else doing so and creating a fuss because of their excitement, or the older man being surrounded by young fans who wanted his autograph or to exchange a few words with him. Either way, Wooseok would have noticed him.

 _‘Unless you spent so much time ogling Jinhyuk that you missed something like that,’_ a voice in his head that sounded suspiciously similar to Seungyoun retorted.

Wooseok shook his head to get it to shut up, subsequently not noticing the ball that Junho accidentally sent out of his area of the court. He barely heard the shout of “Wooseok-hyung!” before he felt the impact on the right side of his face.

The hit sent him to the ground, so fast that one moment he was turning his head towards Junho’s alarmed voice and the next he was staring at the gym’s ceiling, wondering what had happened. The pain came as a reminder right after and realisation dawned on him.

Apparently he’d spent too much time lying down, because the next thing he knew, he was being crowded by all of his teammates as well as Dongwook, all of them with expressions of either shock, worry or, in Yohan’s case, amusement.

That little bastard.

“Wooseok, are you alright?” Dongwook’s voice broke through all the others.

“Yes, I’m fine,” he replied and began sitting up.

“No!” Dohyon exclaimed, panicked, “He has to stay down. He might have a concussion!”

“It was only a light hit, Dohyonie,” Wooseok smiled reassuringly at the first year, “The ball didn’t even hit my head.”

He proceeded to sit up and look for the object that had caused the accident. He saw the volley ball rolling away from them, already too far away for him to grab and punch it in retaliation for the hit.

“I’m so sorry, hyung,” Junho was saying, eyes wide and hands covering his mouth, bowing repeatedly.

“Listen, Junho,” Wooseok looked at him sternly, “You’re very lucky, because you hit the right side of my face. So it’s all okay. But! If you’d gotten the left side, it would have been a whole other story.”

His older teammates burst into laughter while the first-years and Dongwook looked at them in confusion.

“Wooseok-hyung really treasures the left side of his face,” Hangyul explained, breaking from the laughing spell first.

“Why not the right one?” Eunsang asked.

“It just looks better,” Wooseok insisted, and turned back to Junho, “You know I’m only joking right? It doesn’t even hurt anymore, so don’t worry about it, alright?”

Junho looked a bit calmer now, still not over the shock of sending a ball flying into his hyung’s face, but reassured by his humour and way of dealing with the situation.

“Regardless of whether or not Wooseok has a concussion,” Dongwook interrupted their conversation, “It’s getting late in the day and we should all start heading home. I’m sure your parents must be waiting for you.”

The eleven boys hadn’t even thought about the time, the events of the day causing them to lose their touch with the world outside of their gym. When their coach mentioned it, though, they all realised that he was right. They must have had one of the longest training sessions since the beginning of the school year, and they would have continued if Wooseok hadn’t gotten headbutted by a ball off course.

They packed up their belongings, changed back into their uniforms and locked up the gym. Dongwook offered to drive those who were going to walk home, but they politely refused his offer and said goodbye to their new coach before he drove away from the school, shortly after Minhee and Hyeongjun had left with Hyeongjun’s mother and Eunsang, Dongpyo and Dohyon gone with their parents.

The remaining members were about to set off as well, when Seungyoun proposed they all go for a cup of coffee before going home. He told Junho that he was welcome to join, but the first-year refused them despite Yohan’s insisting and ended up leaving on his own.

The five boys didn’t even need to wonder where they were going to go, they were regulars at a coffee shop near where Seungwoo lived.

As they made their way to the shop, Wooseok couldn’t help but think that Seungyoun hadn’t proposed an outing simply because he felt like hanging out, but mostly because he wanted to talk to Seungwoo about what had happened at the gym.

Their leader had been downcast after the comment he’d received by Dongwook and was having a hard time hiding it. If he was right, and Seungyoun had suggested this as an excuse to have a long conversation with him, Wooseok wanted to thank him.

There was nothing he hated more than seeing his friends hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! I hope I won't take this long again, especially because the next chapter is going to be quite sweet and fluffy and... weishiny... Please let me know what you thought and please also go read my friends' stuff. They're all amazing, I promise!!! I'll see you again soon!!!


	8. Zero O'Clock

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I told Weishin Squad this chapter was supposed to be done in a week I'd really meant it. Oof. Sorry I made you all wait, but I think chapter will at least satisfy you *wink wonk* Anyone else going through or approaching finals, I wish you the best of luck!!
> 
> CW for this chapter: Homophobia (brief) and internalised homophobia (more prominent)
> 
> Playlist  
> Jamie Park - Stay Beautiful  
> Up10tion - Because  
> BTS - Zero O'Clock  
> Soyou and Junggigo - Some  
> Day6 - Afraid  
> Steam Powered Giraffe - Honeybee  
> BTS - Mikrokosmos

The coffee shop was mostly empty when the five volleyball players walked in. The only other person there was a barista, ironically the one Wooseok had tried to flirt with a year ago. He recognised them and flashed them a smile as they came in and walked up to the counter.

“Hello, what can I get you?” he asked.

Being regulars, the boys had a vague idea of what they wanted to order, but they still liked checking the catalogue of available drinks in case they felt like shaking their orders up or some new beverage had been added. The latter wasn’t the case that time, but it seemed like Seungyoun was browsing through the list carefully.

 _‘Probably adding even more syrups to his coffee,’_ Wooseok thought, his nose crinkling at the thought. He’d tried his friend’s coffee once and didn’t think he could ever forget how ridiculously sweet it has been.

“I’ll have an iced americano please,” he said first since he didn’t need to think about it.

“Make that two please,” Seungwoo added, smiling at the barista.

“Three,” Hangyul said.

“One more and we’ll have four,” the barista joked, “Anyone else? Going once, twice.”

The boys laughed and he typed their orders into the register before moving onto Yohan who ordered a mint choco frappuccino, making Hangyul cringe with disgust. Seungyoun was the only one left, who finally seemed ready to order.

“I would like a latte with raspberry and vanilla syrup and whipped cream,” he announced.

His teammates’ expressions morphed into ones of disgust, but the boy ignored them. The barista double checked his order while writing it and pulled five plastic cups and a marker out when he was done.

“I’m just going to need your names,” he asked.

“You haven’t learned them yet?” Hangyul raised an eyebrow, “I’m disappointed, Jaejoon-hyung.”

“Of course I have! Seung…hyun, right?” Jaejoon joked, addressing Seungyoun.

The third-year pouted in response as the barista wrote his correct name on the cup, followed by those of his friends.

The boys waited for their drinks to be ready before thanking Jaejoon, taking them and moving to a table by the shop’s window.

Evening light poured into the room, tinted orange as the sun set in the distance. The five boys sat quietly at their table, drinking their beverages and watching the light reflect off the plastic cups. They didn’t say anything at first, taking their time to relax and recharge. Practicing volleyball for hours was nice, but they enjoyed the moments after when they got to sit in peace and quiet, without the sound of volley balls bouncing off the floor and walls and loud voices, trying to be heard over them.

Wooseok watched his friends and tried to get into their heads. It was a rare occurrence to see some of them not talking and not behaving obnoxiously, and some of them were obviously still thinking about their practice going by the serious expressions on their faces. Yohan’s spontaneous tapping against the table that seemed to mimic a spike as he went over the past few hours only served to emphasise his suspicions.

Next to him, Seungwoo had barely touched his drink. The blocker was wiping the little droplets of water that were rolling down his cup with a pensive look on his face. Every now and then he would take a small sip, but that was it. It was apparent that Dongwook’s words were still affecting him, and it pained Wooseok to see him distressed and trying to hide it.

He was about to speak up when Hangyul beat him to it, “I’m sure Seungyoun-hyung had another reason to invite us here, right?”

Seungyoun nodded. “I was actually worried about you, Seungwoo-hyung,” he said, causing the leader to look up from his cup in surprise.

He looked surprised to have been figured out, which only made his friends worry about him more.

If this was him trying to act like nothing was wrong, how bad was he actually feeling?

“I’m fine, guys,” he said quickly, “There’s no reason to worry about me.”

“Yes there is,” Yohan insisted, “We all saw what happened back at the gym. We heard it. You can pretend that everything is alright and that it didn’t affect you, but we can tell it did.”

“You don’t have to hide from us, hyung,” Wooseok added, placing a comforting hand on his friend’s shoulder.

Seungwoo sighed and seemed to relax at the touch. He looked down at the table and for a while the other four boys thought that he was going to ignore them and remain silent.

“He wasn’t wrong,” he whispered eventually, so softly that Wooseok almost didn’t catch it, “I mean he was, but what I said sounded like that. I can’t keep thinking about it. All I can hear is my voice saying that and it just… I understand why he thought what he did.”

“It’s not true, though,” Hangyul said, “And we know it.”

“Maybe you do,” the leader replied, “But the kids don’t. They just heard their leader basically tell them that they don’t have a chance, how do you think that’s going to affect them?”

“You don’t know that,” Seungyoun spoke up, “I know we call them kids or babies, but the truth is that they’re as old as Yohan and Hangyul were last year. And they wouldn’t have misunderstood you, so why would these boys?”

“And Lee Dongwook has known you for what, a few hours?” Wooseok added, “How can he know your leadership skills already?”

“You know who he is, Wooseok,” Seungwoo replied, “There’s no way he doesn’t have a general idea.”

“I know who he is,” the shorter boy agreed, “He’s a _spiker_ , not a leader. And he was never the leader of his team.”

“Doesn’t mean that he doesn’t know a good leader when he sees one,” Seungwoo retorted.

“So do I,” Wooseok said, “And you’re one of them.”

“That’s the thing!” Seungwoo finally looked up, “Of course you’re going to say that. You’re my friend and you’ve been my teammate for two years now. You’re going to be the first ones to reassure me, regardless of if it’s true or not.”

His words came as a surprise to the rest of his teammates, and even Seungwoo himself seemed taken aback by his response and sudden outburst. He looked away from his friends and picked up his coffee again. His hands were gripping the cup so hard that Wooseok was worried he would accidentally break it.

For a moment no one knew what to say. Wooseok and Seungyoun were exchanging looks of concern while Hangyul watched Seungwoo sadly and Yohan was pulling at a hangnail, biting his lip.

“You got one thing right,” Seungyoun broke the silence, “And that’s that we’re your friends. I don’t sweet talk my friends and feed them lies so they won’t get sad, they’re the ones I feel most comfortable being honest with. I’m not afraid to tell Wooseok that his spikes suck-”

“Hey!” said boy exclaimed.

“And I’m not afraid of telling you that you can be an overbearing dad sometimes,” Seungyoun continued unphased, even managing to get Seungwoo to smile a bit, “So if you were a bad leader, I would have told you a long time ago, okay?”

Seungwoo still didn’t look convinced, but he definitely did look calmer than he had been before they’d gone for coffee.

“Am I doing okay?” the boys were surprised at the vulnerability in their leader’s voice.

Hangyul didn’t even wait one second before responding, “You’re doing amazing. I can’t even imagine how pressuring this role must be for you. Or anyone for that matter. Especially when you’re taking after Jihoon-hyung who was such a good leader, but you’re already proving him correct for choosing you. Have you seen how comfortable the kids are around you already? I swear most of them still think Wooseok-hyung is the devil personified, but with you they act like you’re their big brother.”

“Junho doesn’t,” Seungwoo retorted.

“Junho is extremely shy,” Yohan replied, “He’s not comfortable around strangers.”

“My point is,” Hangyul cut their conversation short, “In my eyes, and I’m sure it’s the same for the little ones too, you’ve proven yourself. We don’t need games and courts to see what kind of leader you are. Maybe Lee Dongwook can’t see it yet, but he’s only known you for a few hours. And you didn’t say anything wrong, just what I’m sure all of us were thinking.”

He looked around the table at the rest of his teammates, and each of them nodded in agreement. There was no denying that they had been as surprised as Seungwoo had been when the ex-ace had announced what he was there for.

It had been a matter of timing, and sadly it hadn’t been in their leader’s favour.

“There’s no use in beating yourself up,” Seungyoun said, “Things like this happen all the time. Don’t let one person break your spirit and break you down, okay? It doesn’t matter who that person is. I don’t care that Lee Dongwook is famous, I will break his kneecaps if you keep despairing because of him. I just hope he’ll still give me his autograph afterwards.”

The boys laughed. _‘Trust Seungyoun to lighten the mood,’_ Wooseok thought.

He knew that his friend would sooner die than let anyone be miserable. He would always bring the mood up, even if his was the exact opposite.

“You’re our leader, okay?” the spiker said, “No matter what anyone says.”

“Okay,” Seungwoo looked at him and smiled, “I just want to be someone who can support you all and help the team.”

“And you’re the right person to do that,” Wooseok told him.

He took one of his leader’s hands from where they were resting on his cup and intertwined their fingers, letting their hands rest on the table between them.

Seungwoo squeezed his hand reassuringly and Wooseok did the same.

“Don’t let your date see that, Seokie,” Hangyul joked.

“Fuck off,” Wooseok glared at him.

\---

Wooseok pulled his coat tighter around himself as another gust of wind hit him square in the chest. It was already October and the weather was getting harsher. Not bad enough that walking to school every morning was a risk to his health, but he definitely needed a coat if he went outside during the afternoon.

During afternoons like this one.

He was standing next to Jinhyuk in the line outside a cinema, waiting to get tickets for a romantic comedy the taller boy had recommended watching that Wooseok couldn’t remember the name of.

Whatever it was, it didn’t matter to him that much. He would be happy just standing in line for hours if it meant that he would be next to Jinhyuk. The taller boy looked ethereal in Wooseok’s eyes, like a god with the light shining behind him, the wind blowing his hair in different directions and his eyes sparkling. He wasn’t even doing anything, just standing still, but it was enough to make Wooseok’s heart race and his eyes unable to look away.

It was only their second date, but Wooseok had never felt this way before for any of his crushes. This boy was doing things to him that he couldn’t explain, and yet he wasn’t doing anything to stop him.

He didn’t want to stop him.

This fuzzy feeling, he didn’t want to stop feeling it. It made him feel comfortable, even when his stomach felt like it was in knots and his judgement felt clouded and he lost focus because he would think about Jinhyuk. It made him want to reach out and grab his hand or pull him close and hold him there and not let go unless someone separated them.

A voice in his head would occasionally tell him that he was exaggerating, that it was too soon for him to have feelings like these, and he knew it was true, but he felt them regardless. As little sense as it made, he was willing to hold onto them.

“I didn’t think the queue would be so long,” Jinhyuk’s voice snapped him back to reality, and he realised that he’d probably been staring at him intensely and looking like a creep.

“It’s alright,” Wooseok reassured him, “I don’t mind waiting.”

“It’s cold though,” Jinhyuk bit his lip as he looked at the setter’s coat, which was much thinner than the one he himself was wearing.

“Don’t worry, Jinhyuk,” Wooseok told him, “Really.”

Just then, another gust of wind hit them and made him shiver involuntarily.

He tried to hide it, but Jinhyuk noticed and was now looking even more concerned than before.

“It’s just a light breeze,” Wooseok said quickly, “I’m stronger than that.”

“You’re tiny,” the taller boy joked.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t be strong,” Wooseok replied, “And I’m not that small.” He muttered the last part and wrinkled his nose.

Jinhyuk laughed. “I have a teammate who’s shorter than you,” he said, “But not by much.”

“Still shorter than me, so you’re not allowed to pick on me anymore,” Wooseok said, hitting his arm softly.

“Is he the libero?” he added after some thought.

“Nope,” Jinhyuk answered, “He’s one of our setters.”

“You have more than one?” Wooseok asked.

“We have two,” the taller boy replied.

“We only have one,” Wooseok said.

“You’re special, they can’t replace you,” Jinhyuk said, making him cringe.

“There’s two people who don’t have a position yet,” he told him, “So we’ll see. Maybe one of them will end up being our second setter.”

The truth was that he did feel a little intimidated by that possibility. He already cared about Minhee and Dohyon a lot, but the prospect of one of them taking his spot as a regular on the team was daunting.

They were showing amazing improvement, especially after Dongwook had joined the team and was helping Wooseok train them, giving him more time to focus on his personal improvement as well. He could see them picking up all the necessary skills and he was proud of them. Sure, they had a long way to go, but he could remember them on their first day, unsure of what to do with the ball he’d given them, and when comparing it to now, he saw how far they’d come.

They could have an official position by the time of the winter tournament. At least that’s what he hoped.

For two years he’d been a regular on the team, though, and it was a spot he didn’t want to lose. The court felt right to him and he couldn’t imagine watching his team from the sidelines. There was nothing wrong with being a substitute player, it just wasn’t for him.

“How are you first-years doing?” Jinhyuk asked.

“They’re really good,” Wooseok replied honestly, “We have a libero again for the first time in years and the rest are good players. Even the inexperienced ones are catching up.”

“How do you train them?” the taller boy asked him.

“We’ve split up into groups,” the setter said, “Each one trains the ones with their position and I’m teaching the more inexperienced ones.”

“But you’re the setter,” Jinhyuk asked, confused.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t serve or receive,” Wooseok raised an eyebrow.

“That’s not what I meant,” Jinhyuk shook his head, “Just… Don’t you think it would be more effective if you all played together and analysed what happened after every time the ball touched the ground?”

“We’ve played practice games too,” the shorter boy replied.

“Not exactly like a practice game,” Jinhyuk corrected him, “You don’t count points. Like… Say we’re playing and I notice your receives are weak and sending the ball out of the court. When the ball touches the ground I say, ‘Hey, Wooseok, you’re doing well, but how about I show you how to control your receives a bit better?’ So, I pull you aside and we work on that and go back to the game afterwards. You do that with as many as you can, and you’ll see that it really helps.”

Wooseok thought about it and realised that it did sound like a good idea. In all their practice games they’d focused more on including the new boys and encouraging them, but they had never played a game that had development as its main objective.

It sounded promising, and it also sounded professional.

“That’s very smart,” he admitted to the taller boy, “Thank you for the idea.”

“You’re welcome,” Jinhyuk smiled, “I’m happy I could help you with your team.”

And they did need all the help they could get. For years the team had been organised solely by the team members. It was the way Wooseok had known it and the way his hyungs had described it. It seemed like the last time a teacher had been seriously involved was too long ago for anyone he’d met to remember. Even when Daniel had asked past members Yoon Jisung and Ha Sungwoon, who had entered the team three years before Wooseok, they had said that it had been completely run by the members.

Having a coach was something the existing members were still getting used to. Especially when that coach was Lee Dongwook.

As much as Wooseok wanted to talk to Jinhyuk about it, he was also worried. He wasn’t sure if the other boy would believe that such a famous person had decided to coach their unknown team, or how he would react to hearing it. It felt like something the team should keep to themselves for the time being. There was no telling how other schools would take it if they found out.

“We end up talking about volleyball every time we meet up,” Wooseok said.

“We do,” Jinhyuk agreed, “We should ban the subject or something. Actually, no, we shouldn’t! I don’t have anything else to talk about.”

“You’re more than volleyball, I’m sure,” Wooseok told him.

“You’d be surprised,” Jinhyuk laughed sadly.

Wooseok wanted to insist that it wasn’t true, that he hadn’t known him long, but he knew that Jinhyuk was a bright person and had much more to his character than playing volleyball, but the person in front of them paid for their ticket and entered the cinema, meaning that they were finally at the front of the line.

He tried to pay for his ticket, but Jinhyuk wouldn’t accept any money from him, and he didn’t want to cause a scene and had to follow him into the cinema, sulking.

“Are you really mad at me?” Jinhyuk asked, smile wide and almost amused, as they took their seats.

“You paid for me last time,” Wooseok replied, sinking into his seat while crossing his arms over his chest, “Why can’t I pay this time?”

“Because I won’t let you,” the spiker said, reaching over to try and pull him into his arms, but Wooseok swerved to avoid him.

“Don’t try to hug me when I’m mad at you,” he scoffed.

“You’re so cute when you sulk like a baby kitten,” Jinhyuk said.

Wooseok was about to protest that what he’d just said was a pleonasm when Jinhyuk reached over and cupped his face with both hands, tugging at his lips with his thumbs to try and make him smile.

Wooseok squeaked in surprise and tried to pull away but found himself relaxing into Jinhyuk’s touch instead. The sight of the boy’s face just made him smile, earning a look of satisfaction from the taller boy.

“There’s that beautiful smile,” Jinhyuk spoke softly, his hold loosening so he was now stroking Wooseok’s cheeks.

The smaller boy blushed. He knew that he was handsome, and even if he didn’t his friends would have done their best to drill it into his head (especially Yein), but there was just something about hearing it from Jinhyuk that made him feel like he was flying up in the clouds.

He was a goner for this boy.

“Can I at least pay for the popcorn?” he tried.

“Fine,” Jinhyuk sighed dramatically, “I owe you big time thought.”

“Don’t you dare,” Wooseok warned him, untangling himself from his date to get up and make his way out of the room and back to the cinema’s cafeteria, where he stood in a line that was thankfully much shorter than the one they’d stood in before.

He put his hand in his pocket to pull out his wallet so he would be ready to pay when it was his turn when he heard some laughs and snickers. Usually, he wouldn’t have paid them any notice, but those specific ones felt like they were directed at him.

Against his better judgement he turned around to look for their source.

He quickly noticed three young boys, probably over three years younger than him, peering out of the cinema room he’d just exited and looking right at him, pointing, laughing and talking to themselves.

He felt vulnerable at that moment and instinctively curled into himself as if to protect himself.

There was no doubt about what had happened; these kids had seen him and Jinhyuk in the cinema. They had been touchy, sure, but it hadn’t been that bad, had it?

Wooseok scolded himself because he should have known, he should have been prepared for this. He’d gone on a date with another boy and expected people who would see them to be open-minded and let them enjoy their time in peace.

He should have known better.

Suddenly it felt like all eyes were on him, that everyone in the room was looking at him, thinking that he was weird, disgusting, a freak. He looked down to avoid their stares, his eyes stinging with unshed tears, which only made him more frustrated because, _‘Pull it together, Wooseok! You’re in public!’_

“Sir? Excuse me, sir?”

He looked up to see the girl behind the counter looking at him confused, only then realising that the line had gotten shorter and he was now the one at the front. Flustered, he took the few steps to the counter and faced the girl.

“Two medium popcorns, please,” he said softly, pulling his wallet out quickly.

The girl only took a few seconds before she was handing him the two tubs that looked way too big to be medium-sized to him.

“There you go, sir,” she said, “That will be 10,000 won, please.”

Wooseok handed her the money, pocketed his wallet and took the tubs in his arms, trying not to drop too many of the popped kernels on his way back to the screening room.

When he arrived, he had to push past a family awkwardly to get back to his seat, where he found Jinhyuk scrolling through his phone. The other boy looked up as soon as he heard him approaching and put the device away, offering to take his tub to help him sit back down without sending popcorn everywhere.

“That didn’t take too long,” he commented, taking a small handful of the snack and eating it right away.

“The queue wasn’t too bad,” Wooseok replied, “But I’m not going back, so try to have some left over for when the movie actually starts.”

Jinhyuk sent him an okay sign and continued eating.

Wooseok chuckled and shook his head, taking his phone out of his pocket so that he could turn it on silent before the movie began. There was nothing he hated more than phones ringing in the cinema or theatre while he was trying to enjoy himself, except maybe for when the people those phones belonged to refused to silence them after that and let them keep ringing.

He instructed Jinhyuk to do the same, but the spiker was too busy chewing on a large mouthful of popcorn to reply verbally and took to miming that he’d already turned it off. By the time Wooseok could figure out what he was trying to say, the lights were dimming and the movie was about to start.

Throughout the duration of the movie, he found himself laughing at jokes that weren’t even that funny, ones that were, cringing at the romantic comedy clichés, but still enjoying himself.

Halfway through the movie, Jinhyuk attempted to either pull him closer to him or take his hand. Wooseok didn’t find out exactly what he’d been aiming for, because he inched to the end of his seat away from him. He only realised what he’d done afterwards, when he’d bumped into the woman in the seat next to his and she’d shot him a glare. He didn’t dare turn around to see what Jinhyuk was doing, but he still felt his eyes on him and could picture his disappointed or confused expression.

He wished he wasn’t in a public place so he could hit his forehead to scold himself.

He tried to inch back closer to the other boy after that, eventually getting back to his original place in the seat, but Jinhyuk didn’t try anything again. The most he did was ask for permission to eat some of Wooseok’s popcorn when his inevitably ran out.

When the film was over, the people around them got up, stretching and exchanging opinions about it before taking their belongings and leaving. Wooseok took his time, while Jinhyuk stretched his limbs with a look of relief.

 _‘Being this tall comes with a price,’_ the smaller boy thought as he watched him.

“Ready to go?” he asked when he saw Jinhyuk finally loosen up.

“Yup, all done,” the other smiled, “These seats are so uncomfortable.”

“Your short teammate and I enjoy them very much,” Wooseok teased him.

“No comment,” Jinhyuk replied as he put his coat on, “So, what did you think of the movie?”

“It was fun,” Wooseok answered, “You gotta love rom coms for being dumb but still entertaining.”

“Definitely,” Jinhyuk laughed, “No matter how silly, you just don’t have the heart to hate them cause you know that you enjoyed it.”

The two proceeded to walk out of the cinema as the staff prepared for another screening. All Wooseok could think about was how they managed to pick up all the bits of popcorn that ended up on the floor in the limited time they had between screenings.

They contemplated going to get hot chocolate until they turned their phones back on and saw the time. It was getting late and it was a school night, so they agreed that it wasn’t the best idea.

“Do you want me to walk you home?” Jinhyuk asked.

“I don’t want to hold you up,” Wooseok replied.

“You wouldn’t be,” Jinhyuk said, “I’d be happy to.”

“Then I’d like that,” Wooseok said, offering him a smile.

The two boys began walking the distance from the cinema to Wooseok’s building, chatting about the movie they’d just seen. It had gotten colder as the day progressed to night, so they stayed close to one another to preserve warmth without even realising.

As they entered the outskirts of town, they saw fewer and fewer people on the streets. Wooseok thought back to the cinema, how much he’d enjoyed Jinhyuk’s touch and wanted more, but had let some kids ruin it for him. All he could think about was how unfair it was to Jinhyuk who had no idea what had been going on in his head or why the setter had pulled away from him. Maybe if they were still around as many people as they’d been before he wouldn’t have had the courage to take Jinhyuk’s hand where it was hanging between them as they walked.

The taller boy seemed surprised at first, but then took the initiative to interlock their fingers. They both looked up and locked eyes, smiling.

Wooseok was thankful it was dark and the heat rising to his cheeks wouldn’t be visible. And if it was, he could just pass it off as the cold.

They walked the rest of the way hand in hand. Wooseok felt almost disappointed when they finally arrived outside his building.

“I hope your place isn’t too far away,” he said to Jinhyuk.

“Not really, don’t worry,” the other reassured him.

“Okay,” Wooseok nodded. He wanted to say more, wanted to draw the conversation out so Jinhyuk wouldn’t have to leave.

“I had a great time today,” he said, and he meant it, “Thank you so much. I’m sorry I was so weird earlier.”

“You weren’t weird,” Jinhyuk told him, but it wasn’t convincing. They both knew that he’d noticed it.

“I was,” Wooseok insisted, “You don’t have to pretend you didn’t see it.”

“I’m not annoyed or anything,” the taller boy said, “You can always tell me if I’m being too much.”

“No! That’s not it at all!” Wooseok quickly spoke up. He didn’t want Jinhyuk to think that anything that had happened had been his fault. And now that he knew that he was thinking that way, he decided that he had to come clean and explain what had happened to him.

He punched the combination for the building’s front door into the lock and held the door open once it was unlocked.

“Please come inside,” he said when he saw how confused Jinhyuk looked, “I want to explain myself to you and it’s cold outside.”

He waited for Jinhyuk to enter first before following him, pulling the door shut behind him.

It was much warmer inside than it had been outside. The change felt overwhelming at first, but Wooseok and Jinhyuk adapted to it quickly after that.

Wooseok wasted no time in approaching the spiker and addressing the incident that had occurred.

“When I left before the movie started,” he explained, “I was waiting in line and I saw some kids laughing at me. I think they saw us being touchy in the theatre. I just… Felt icky after that. I didn’t mean to hurt you, I promise.”

“You didn’t,” Jinhyuk said, “It would take a lot more than that to hurt me, Wooseok. I was just confused.”

“Now you don’t have to be,” Wooseok said, “It’s all good now. I’m fine.”

“But it affected you,” Jinhyuk retorted, “If you’re uncomfortable with us being affectionate in public, we don’t have to.”

“It’s just… I don’t want you to think I’m ashamed of you,” Wooseok confessed.

“I wouldn’t think that,” Jinhyuk stepped closer, taking one of his hands in his, “I know where we live. I know that there are many things that aren’t perfect and I know what some people are capable of doing to others like us, but don’t you dare think even for a minute that I would think so lowly of you, Wooseok. There is nothing wrong with protecting yourself or not being comfortable about something. I like you, I really do, and I want to keep seeing you, so I want you to be comfortable with me, okay?”

Wooseok probably would have cried if it wasn’t for all of the emotions he was feeling at the same time. He’d been prepared to be rejected, to let this dream die, but here he was, not only having his thoughts validated, but also his feelings returned.

For a moment his brain short-circuited and he didn’t know what to say or do, but he snapped out of it and grabbed Jinhyuk’s other hand that wasn’t holding his and looked up at him and into his deep brown eyes that still looked like they were sparkling.

“Okay,” he said, “Thank you, Jinhyuk. This is so much more than I could have ever hoped for. You’re amazing.”

He stood up on his tiptoes to peck the taller boy’s cheek.

He felt Jinhyuk’s body stiffen in surprise and then relax. He stepped down and gave him a smile before he turned around and walked to the elevator, pressing the button to call it to the ground floor.

To his surprise, he saw Jinhyuk next to him when he was done.

“Again, thank you so much for tonight,” he said, “For everything. I’ll let you go cause we have school tomorrow. I already must have delayed you getting home. You should be able to open the front door from the inside, just make sure to pull it shut all the way before you leave so it will lock properly.”

Jinhyuk opened his mouth to say something, but the _ding_ of the elevator arriving and its doors opening interrupted him. Wooseok gave him one more smile before stepping in and pressing the button for the fifth floor.

He waved goodbye to his date, who looked conflicted, though Wooseok didn’t understand why, as he watched the doors slowly close again.

He barely had time to process Jinhyuk slip through the remaining room between the two metal doors before they closed and the elevator started moving upwards.

He didn’t have time to be surprised, to process the look of determination on Jinhyuk’s face or to realise what was happening before Jinhyuk closed the gap between them, cupped his face with both his hands and kissed him.

Wooseok’s eyes widened in surprise, but he melted into the touch and the feeling of Jinhyuk’s lips against his.

He wrapped his arms around the taller boy’s neck and deepened the kiss.

If he’d thought that Jinhyuk’s hands were warm, he didn’t know how to describe his lips. Soft, warm despite the cold weather they’d endured and with the lingering saltiness from the popcorn.

Their lips moved in unison, fitting perfectly together like two puzzle pieces, and the whole time the elevator continued its journey upwards, making Wooseok feel like he truly was ascending to heaven.

When it inevitably came to a stop, the two boys pulled away as they heard the distinct _ding_ signalling the arrival to the right floor. They rested their foreheads against each other and stood like that.

“Should we just go back to the ground floor and up again?” Wooseok whispered.

Jinhyuk chuckled, his breath hot against Wooseok’s skin.

“I don’t see why not,” he whispered back.

Just then, the lights went off and the doors closed, causing Wooseok to squeal in surprise and jump, almost hitting Jinhyuk. They had taken too long to get off. He hurriedly pressed searched for the control panel and pressed the first button he found. Thankfully it opened the doors and turned the lights back on.

“I think we should get off,” said Jinhyuk.

“I think so too,” Wooseok agreed with a small laugh.

They quickly left the elevator, laughing at what had happened.

“Just our luck,” Jinhyuk exclaimed.

They stopped in front of Wooseok’s family’s apartment. Wooseok pulled his keys out of his pocket and looked up at Jinhyuk.

“Should we say goodnight for good this time?” he asked.

“Do we have to?” Jinhyuk replied.

“School,” the shorter boy reminded him.

“School does nothing but make our lives harder,” said the spiker.

“I couldn’t agree more,” Wooseok sighed.

“So,” Jinhyuk started, “Goodnight?”

“Goodnight,” Wooseok replied.

“Can I kiss you one more time?”

“Please.”

This kiss was much shorter than their previous one, just a peck, but Wooseok still felt his body go numb to everything but the feeling of bliss and his mind empty until Jinhyuk was the only thing that occupied it.

He smiled up at him they separated, whispered one last, “Goodnight,” against his lips and watched the other walk to the elevator and step inside it.

He turned around and unlocked the front door of the apartment, stepping inside.

As he closed the door behind him, the whole night played in his mind like a scene from a movie and he almost sunk to the floor at the realisation of everything that had happened. He composed himself and kicked off his shoes with the biggest smile on his face and Jinhyuk on his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it happened!!! I swear this must be incredibly corny, but I'm so proud of it, especially because I really can't write fluff and romance. I hope you enjoyed this!! Next chapter might be late (are you even surprised at this point?) but I have lots of work for university and finals in less than two weeks so I am STRESSED. Stay safe and stay healthy, everyone. I love you all!!


	9. Start

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm updating for the second time this month!! Amazing, right? Well it's all thanks to this beauty: my friend [Bells](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blobfishbells/pseuds/blobfishbells)! Happy birthday, you wonderful person!! I wish you all the best and I hope everyone can go check out her stories too!! She's super talented!
> 
> Playlist  
> Eric Nam - Runaway  
> ONF - Complete  
> Gaho - Start  
> David Bowie - Starman  
> Ji Jinseok - Good Night

October 31st was a date that held minimal to no significance to Wooseok.

He knew that it was a western holiday, but it didn’t mean anything to him. His friends were much more excited about it than him, or well, were actually excited.

“It’s Halloween and it’s a Saturday,” Dongpyo had said one day while they were packing up after practice, “We have all day and all night to do something.”

“Junho and I already have plans,” Yohan had admitted, looking at his teammates uncomfortably, “We didn’t think you would like to do something as well, so we went ahead and planned for ourselves.”

“And no one will be able to take me anywhere,” Minhee had shared, “I already depend on Hyeongjun’s mum and sisters to go home after school, I don’t want to ask them for more.”

“What about your parents?” Seungwoo had asked him, to which the boy had simply shaken his head no.

“I want to use the time to look into universities and courses,” Wooseok had told them.

They’d wrapped up the conversation by agreeing that doing anything didn’t seem plausible. Just a few days ago they’d celebrated Wooseok and Eunsang’s birthdays together anyway, so it wasn’t like they were in desperate need of a group activity and bonding.

The joint birthday party had been fun, with cakes and teasing and they’d even included their coach, who had been surprised when they’d pulled him into the gym that had been bustling with energy. To say the man hadn’t been expecting it was an understatement.

Needless to say, they hadn’t gotten much done that day, especially after they had each eaten two pieces of cake (one from Wooseok’s and one from Eunsang’s). They pretended they hadn’t noticed Eunsang feed Dohyon another piece after he’d stared at it so hard that he may as well have eaten the whole thing with his eyes. All Wooseok knew was that he would have probably ended up doing the same.

It was the day before the 31st that Wooseok found out that his friends and teammates weren’t the only ones who were looking forward to Halloween, but it was his older friends as well.

They had flooded their group chat with messages asking if they wanted to do anything together to catch up, saying that they’d missed Wooseok and that it was unfair how Yein had gotten to see him and learn everything about his date before them.

Despite him insisting that it wasn’t necessary to leave their houses to meet up, they had ultimately won over him.

Eight against one was an unfair fight in his opinion.

Once the outing had been decided, the question of where they were going to go had risen.

It had been Jinwook who had suggested Itaewon.

“They have a huge Halloween party,” he’d said, “And we’re practically adults. We’re responsible enough to go have fun on our own and be back home on time.”

“No way my parents are saying yes to this,” Wooseok had replied.

“They’re saying yes to you going on dates,” Sooil had pressed, “I’m sure they’ll be fine with you going out with us. They love us!”

“They’re saying yes to me going on dates because they don’t know they’re dates,” he’d told him, “And all of you had better keep your mouths shut about them or the last thing you’ll ever see is me running towards you with a knife.”

“That tiny thing you keep on your keys?” Hwanhee had snorted, “That’s hardly sharp.”

What he’d been referring to was a keychain with a small box cutter that Wooseok owned. He’d threatened his friends with it many times in the past, but it seemed like they thought of it as more of a joke than something actually dangerous at this point.

His mum had been paranoid that he would get expelled if one of his teachers found it and considered it a weapon, but he’d assured her that it was way too small for that to happen. In all honesty, he was surprised she’d even let him have it in the first place.

He was even more surprised when she and his dad had not only agreed to him going to Itaewon with his friends, but also _encouraged_ it.

“When’s the last time you went to a party?” his mum had said.

“If you’re not going to have fun now that you’re young, when will you?” his dad had agreed.

And so here he was, waiting for Yein and Changhyun to bring the costume they’d picked out for him. They’d insisted on not showing him until the last minute and while he’d initially been very much not amused by the idea, he was slowly growing more and more excited as he waited for them.

He heard the front doorbell ring and looked up from his maths notebook, knowing full well who it was.

“Oh no, Daeho, monsters have come to kill us!” he heard his mother exclaim dramatically after she’d opened the door.

“We’ve grown up, Mrs Kim,” Yein retorted, “You don’t have to play along with us anymore.”

“In my eyes you will always be four years old, Yeinie,” his mother laughed.

“You’ve only known me for five years, Mrs Kim,” Changhyun argued, “So you don’t have an excuse for treating me like a kid.”

“I don’t need one, Changhyun,” his mother said, “You have such a cute face that you look like one.”

Wooseok snickered and heard his friends and parents laugh at the joke as well. He had to admit that his friend did have a baby face and was usually assumed to be much younger than he actually was. Until he opened his mouth that is.

He only had a few more seconds to prepare himself before his bedroom’s door was pushed open and his friends burst in.

“Wooseokie!” Changhyun’s scream pierced his ears and in a matter of seconds the other boy had wrapped his arms around him.

“Someone would think you haven’t seen me in years,” Wooseok groaned and tried to free himself.

“It feels like years,” the other replied, “I’ve missed you so much! And you told Yein about your mystery date before me! I feel betrayed.”

“Perks of being the childhood best friend,” Yein said cheekily and winked while sorting through the three bags he’d brought with him and dropped on the floor upon entrance.

“Please don’t tell me we’re going to have to carry those around Itaewon,” Wooseok’s eyes widened after he’d gotten rid of the octopus named Lee Changhyun and could look around freely.

“Of course not,” his friend rolled his eyes, “I’m leaving them here. I’m going to sleep over tonight.”

“When did I agree to that?” Wooseok raised an eyebrow.

“Now. Get up and get your ass here,” Yein ordered and snapped his fingers.

Wooseok had no choice but to obey him, or not even his box cutter keychain would be able to save him.

He closed his notebook, put the cap back onto his pen and stood up from his desk chair. Changhyun immediately took his place and started spinning around on it.

The setter watched as Yein rummaged through everything he’d brought, occasionally taking something out and putting it on his bed.

He took the time to see what his friends had come dressed up as, his mother had called them monsters after all. Yein was easy and predictable in the sense that he’d been talking about dressing up as Harley Quinn sometime for years now. Finally seeing it made him think that it was perfectly suitable for his friend.

He tried to catch a glimpse of what Changhyun looked like, but the chair’s continued spinning was making it hard. He eventually reached out and grabbed the arm of the chair, causing it to come to a sudden halt.

“Hey! Why’d you do that?” Changhyun complained, looking at everywhere but Wooseok, disoriented.

“Why aren’t you dressed up?” Wooseok asked, ignoring him.

“I am!” his friend insisted, “I’m a zombie!”

Wooseok observed his appearance more closely and decided that Changhyun was in fact not a zombie. The boy was just wearing a simple shirt and jeans, and his face had been painted white with black around the eyes.

“You’re not,” the setter shook his head and turned back to Yein.

“I tried to make him look green, but he wouldn’t let me,” the other rolled his eyes.

“Because _Shrek_ is green, not zombies!” Changhyun exclaimed, “They’re pale, cause they’re dead.”

And thus the debate on the colour of zombies’ skin began.

Wooseok thought it was sad how long they spent discussing it, the lengths they’d gone to even sadder. He’d even pointed out every single zombie from his comic books to prove his point, while Changhyun almost started playing ‘Train To Busan’.

The argument ended like most of them in their friend group did, Yein slamming Wooseok’s laptop’s lid shut onto Changhyun’s fingers as he tried to type the address to a movie streaming website and telling them to stop acting like babies while shoving a plastic bag into Wooseok’s arms with the words, “Now put this on.”

With the melody of Changhyun insisting his fingers were all broken in the background, the short boy opened the bag and peered inside.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” he groaned.

\---

“And what do we have here?” Jinwook mused as he scanned the three approaching figures of his friends.

“Looks like my girlfriend, a ghost and…” Sooil paused and broke into a grin after seeing Wooseok, “What do we have here? Hello, kitty. Pspspspsps.”

He reached out to try and pat his friend’s head, but the shorter boy grabbed it before he could.

“Don’t you dare,” Wooseok warned and let go of it.

“It’s perfect, hyung!” Hwanhee exclaimed, jumping with excitement.

“I’m not a ghost!” Changhyun yelled.

“Then what are you?” Dongyeol asked him, raising an eyebrow that was barely visible under his fringe which had gotten significantly longer since Wooseok had last seen him.

“A zombie,” the other replied.

“But you’re not green,” Hwanhee asked, confused.

The nine boys had to endure Changhyun’s rant about his choice of makeup colour for the remainder of their journey to Itaewon’s main street. Upon arrival, he had to stop because the noise was making it impossible to hear anything.

Wooseok had heard about Halloween at Itaewon before, but anything he had pictured hadn’t even gotten close to the real deal.

There were people everywhere, all dressed in bizarre costumes, talking loudly and even dancing. Although it was night, there was light everywhere coming from the shops on the main road and also all the fairy lights that had been strung up around the lampposts and utility poles. Wooseok noticed a few people wearing glow in the dark headbands and bracelets as well.

It wasn’t only Koreans who were there either, the whole street was flooded with people of every race and colour, all of them enjoying this one night of Halloween without anything coming between them and separating them from one another.

He and his friends weren’t the only school kids he could see. There were quite a few of them, either dressed up or just wearing a big pair of glasses or a wig over their regular clothes or school uniforms.

Their group was definitely one that stood out.

They had a (debatable) zombie, a Harley Quinn, a Joker, who had turned out quite well considering Sooil had insisted on doing everything himself, Jinwook as a werewolf, Minsoo as a pirate, Hwanhee and Dongyeol as two demons, _‘Of course those two would match,’_ Wooseok had thought when he’d seen them, Gyujin as a priest and Wooseok dressed as a cat (“Fuck you, Yein”).

He’d felt the urge to throw the nearest thing to him, which had been Changhyun, at Yein when he’d seen the costume. He should have known that his friends would try to poke fun at him some way or another, but his mind had not gone to a cat, he had to admit. At least it was a black cat and he could try to convince himself it was an acceptable Halloween costume. The only thing he couldn’t tolerate was the choker with the bell that jingled every time he moved. He was sure that by the end of the night the ringing would be permanently playing in his ears. Even the ears and tail Yein had forced on him were better than that.

“So where to?” Gyujin asked loudly.

“Just walk around,” Minsoo suggested, “We’re not old enough to buy alcohol yet, but we can sit down at a pub to buy a soda and eat something if you want.”

“Let’s take a walk while it’s still early,” said Wooseok, “We’ll sit down and talk later.”

Walking in a crowd that big soon proved to be a challenge, especially when there were nine people trying to keep up with each other. They managed to find the bright side of it though, laughing every time someone stepped on Gyujin’s robe and caused him to slow down or whenever they got separated by the crowd.

Hwanhee suggested they all hold hands so they don’t lose each other, but Wooseok ignored him and pushed past some tourists taking a selfie to get as far away from the younger boy as he could.

He had barely gotten away from one devil when the other ran up to him and threw an arm around his shoulders.

“So how have you been, hyung?” Dongyeol asked.

“You know, going to school, volleyball training,” Wooseok replied.

“And dates?” the younger boy wiggled his eyebrows.

“Just two,” the setter answered.

“And what is he like?”

“He’s nice. Very sweet and funny. And charming.”

“I’m going to stop you before you get all gross,” Dongyeol held up one of his hands, “But he sounds like a nice guy, hyung. And you sound happy. I’m glad.”

“He is,” Wooseok nodded, smiling, “And I am.”

Just then, they heard the unmistakable laughter of Jinwook and Yein. They turned around to see what they’d missed and saw Changhyun power walk ahead of the rest of their friends, an expression of annoyance clear on his face.

“What happened?” Dongyeol asked.

“Someone stopped and complimented his ‘mummy costume’,” Minsoo explained, only causing them all to start laughing again.

“My goal for tonight is to have one person understand what I’m dressed up as,” Changhyun sighed exasperatedly.

“Let’s face it, you’re a pretty shit zombie,” said Sooil.

“Yeah, we’ve seen so many other ones all this time,” Gyujin added, “And we’ve always been able to tell they’re zombies. Whereas you just look like Jinwook-hyung when he goes on a Netflix binge.”

That last comment earned him a slap on the neck from said boy.

“If you’d let me paint you green then you would have been fine,” Yein scolded him, “Look at that guy, he’s clearly a zombie and what colour is he? Green!”

Everyone turned to look at where Yein was pointing.

Close to them stood a group of three people, one of which was indeed a zombie. He was standing in front of a pub, handing his phone to another person who had their back turned to Wooseok and his friends but appeared to be dressed as a skeleton, and then taking the third person, a vampire, by the hand to stand next to him. The skeleton seemed to be urging them to hurry up as he held up the phone. The zombie wrapped an arm around the vampire, who did the same, and posed for the picture. Right when the skeleton was about to take the picture, the vampire leaned over and gave the zombie a kiss on the cheek.

Some of Wooseok’s friends ‘aww’ed at the sight and the skeleton took the picture while laughing. He shook his head and laughed as he turned away from his friends and into Wooseok’s direction.

Wooseok’s breath caught in his throat when he could see his face clearly.

Jinhyuk was standing just a few feet away from him.

The taller boy seemed to have noticed him as well, no longer looking at the phone in his hands, not even at his friends who were obviously trying to get his attention.

Wooseok offered him a smile and a wave. Jinhyuk waved back.

“Hyung, do you know him?” Hwanhee asked him.

“That’s um… That’s my date,” he replied.

His friends all let out similar exclamations of surprise.

Wooseok and Jinhyuk unconsciously started walking towards each other, their friends following behind them like lost children.

“Wasn’t expecting to run into you tonight,” Wooseok said when they were close enough to hear each other over the commotion of the busy street.

“Me neither,” Jinhyuk replied.

“I wasn’t going to be anywhere but home tonight,” Wooseok confessed, “But these idiots dragged me out.”

“HEY!” nine voices answered unanimously.

“Oh, before I forget,” the setter said, “Idiots, meet Jinhyuk. Jinhyuk, meet the idiots.”

“Another zombie!” one of Jinhyuk’s friends, the zombie, exclaimed, pointing at Changhyun, whose whole face lit up.

“Yes, I am!” he cheered, unable to conceal his excitement.

“Love how you’re not green by the way,” the other zombie commented, “I know I am, but it’s so generic. You’ve gone for the more realistic look.”

“Kookheon, you’re going to scare him,” the vampire cut him before he could say more.

“Please,” Yein groaned, “He’s been dying for someone to tell him that ever since we got here.”

“Glad to have helped then,” the zombie, Kookheon, smiled and turned to the vampire, “See? I make people happy.”

“You make _me_ happy,” the vampire said, kissing his cheek.

“Yuvin, stop making me feel like a third-wheel,” Jinhyuk sighed.

“Do you want us to leave you two for a bit?” Minsoo whispered to Wooseok.

Of course, in the middle of the busy Itaewon street, what passed as a whisper wasn’t that discreet, and Yuvin ended up hearing it. He immediately said that he was going to take Kookheon to help him look for a bathroom and that Jinhyuk could stay with the others until they came back if he wanted.

As if they had communicated with him in a matter of seconds, Wooseok’s friends joined in and mentioned wanting to get a drink of water, both them and Jinhyuk’s friends inching further and further away from the two as they spoke.

Just like that, only the two boys remained.

“Sorry about them,” Jinhyuk shook his head.

“It’s alright,” Wooseok reassured him, “I don’t mind being alone with you.”

“Neither do I,” Jinhyuk smiled at him, “Want to walk around or get something to eat?”

“Sounds good,” the shorter boy replied.

They ended up leaving the crowd of people and walking down a quieter road. They talked about their friends and how they’d been spending their night so far.

Wooseok didn’t even notice they’d been holding hands the whole time until they stopped in front of a tteokbokki stall and he had to free his hand to reach for his wallet in the pocket of his costume’s trousers.

Unlike other times one of them had tried to be touchier in public, this didn’t feel uncomfortable to Wooseok. He wasn’t sure why, it could have been the whole atmosphere of where they were and the people around them or even seeing Yuvin and Kookheon being so open before, but something gave him a sense of security and acceptance that he had never felt before outside of his friend groups.

He wished he could feel it more often.

They each paid for their food and moved away so they could make room for the other people in line to place their orders.

Wooseok picked up a piece of tteokbokki and ate it eagerly, but cautiously so as to not ruin the whiskers and other makeup Yein had put on him before leaving.

“So you’re a cat,” Jinhyuk commented, “Can’t say I don’t see it.”

“I’m not,” Wooseok said, “My friends just like to tease me.”

“You look cute, though,” the taller boy cooed, “Well, you always do, but you look exceptionally cute now.”

“You make a cute skeleton,” Wooseok said, trying to distract Jinhyuk from the heat that was rising to his cheeks at his comment.

“Apparently I’m tall and lanky like one,” the other said.

“You are,” Wooseok agreed.

Jinhyuk playfully shoved his shoulder, almost causing him to spill his food on himself and thus earning a sharp glare.

They kept walking while they ate, the hot temperature of the street food a pleasant contrast from the chilly weather. They talked some more, even through mouthfuls of food, and when they ran out of topics to discuss, they relished each other’s company, the time between then and the last time they’d met suddenly seeming much longer than it had been.

When he noticed that they were slowly approaching the street where they’d set off from where they would be reunited with their friends, Wooseok wanted to tell Jinhyuk that he wanted to do everything all over again just to have more time with him. He didn’t know when he was going to see him again, and the uncertainty made him uncomfortable.

Just as he’d expected, his friends were waiting for them right where they’d left them, taking selfies and laughing. They waved at him as soon as they noticed him.

“Do you want to wait for your friends too?” Wooseok asked Jinhyuk, the taller boy pulling his phone out of the bag he was carrying with him.

“Kookheon is calling me,” he said, “They’re probably around here somewhere and want me to go find them. I should go before they start sucking each other’s faces off.”

“Sounds dangerous,” Wooseok replied.

“It was nice seeing you,” Jinhyuk told him, “I hope we’ll see each other again soon.”

“I hope so too,” the shorter boy said, “We can plan it this time.”

“Great!” the other said, “Have fun with your friends. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Jinhyuk.”

And with some newfound courage, Wooseok pressed his lips against Jinhyuk’s.

Jinhyuk returned the kiss and pulled him closer with the hand that wasn’t holding his phone.

When they pulled apart, they gave each other one last smile before separating and going their own ways.

Wooseok’s friends were silently clapping and cheering when he reached them.

“You’re embarrassing me,” he groaned.

“That was so wholesome,” Sooil said happily.

“What are you guys in the mood to do now?” Wooseok ignored him and addressed the other seven boys.

“We got something to eat while you were canoodling with your date,” Hwanhee informed him, “So unless you’re hungry we can keep walking around. We can try to make some new friends too!”

“Ones to replace you? Count me in!”

They spent the remainder of their Halloween night out walking around Itaewon and catching up with everyone’s news. It was mostly the eight boys sharing stories with Wooseok since they all went to the same school, Hwanhee and Dongyeol joining the second and third-years that year.

The third-years talked about choosing universities and how hard school was getting, but the younger ones helped bring the mood up when they needed to.

Wooseok was grateful for that, but he was also happy that he’d gotten this moment with his friends to talk and have fun. He knew that studying and schoolwork was going to get harder as they progressed into the school year and they wouldn’t be able to meet up like this.

Having this escape was something he appreciated.

By midnight, the streets weren’t getting any less flooded, but the nine boys decided to call it a night and start heading home.

Wooseok and Yein had the furthest to go, and by the time they made it to his building, they were panting and ready to go to bed.

They got inside quietly so as to not wake up his parents and made a beeline to the bathroom so that they could get the makeup off their faces. They silently fought over the packet of wet wipes for ten minutes before they deemed themselves ready for bed.

Wooseok gave Yein some spare pyjamas and the two climbed into his bed.

If it were anyone else, perhaps Wooseok would have felt awkward sharing a bed, but he and Yein had done that so many times during their lives, that it felt as casual as sitting next to each other.

The two boys lay on their backs side by side, staring at the glow in the dark stars on Wooseok’s ceiling that he had insisted weren’t too childish when they’d moved to the flat almost three years ago.

“It was nice you bumped into Jinhyuk today,” Yein whispered to him.

Wooseok hummed in agreement.

“I miss him already,” he confessed, also speaking silently.

“You two are really cute,” Yein said, sounding gradually more tired.

“I guess,” Wooseok thought out loud, “I like him. I like him a lot. The way I feel when I’m with him, I don’t think I’ve ever felt about someone before. I just want to be around him all the time and I want to make him happy and take care of him if he needs me to. When I’m stressed about school and university, I keep thinking about how nice it would be if he could be there and hug me and tell me that everything’s alright, and it just makes me miss him even more, even if it’s only been a few days since we’ve last seen each other.”

He paused.

“I’ve liked a few guys before,” he whispered to his friend, “But I think he’s the first one I want to call my boyfriend.”

“Wow, sounds you do like him a lot,” Yein whispered, “Do you think you could fall in love with him some day?”

“It’s too early to tell,” Wooseok replied, “But I don’t know… maybe.”

“Love is beautiful,” Yein mused, “Loving someone must be so special. You’re very lucky…”

Wooseok turned to face him and ask him what he’d meant by that, but Yein’s eyes were shut. He must have fallen asleep while talking.

Wooseok pulled the covers tighter over his body, rolled onto his side and let his eyes fall shut as sleep took him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ofc I had to add Up10tion to this story!! They're my babies and I love them so so much! Ot10 moment was much needed these days. I hope I can add them more, but sometimes this story writes itself and takes weird routes. We'll see, we'll see. Anyway thank you so much for reading!! Feel free to come chat with me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/jinnius_lek). I cry about X1 a lot but I can be fun too, I promise!! See you sooooon!!


	10. Astroboy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not updating at 4am for once haha!! I'm so sorry I took so long. If anyone remembers the days I used to update regularly cry with me. But I'm very happy for today's update because not only is it our Eunsangie's debut (his whole album is so beautiful), but it's also my birthday!!! Also congrats to Yohan!! I love No More so much I can't stop listening to it!! I'm so proud of all of them *cries* Anywayyyy
> 
> Playlist  
> Twenty One Pilots - Stressed Out  
> Stray Kids - Mixtape: On Track  
> Kang Daniel - 2U  
> suggi - Astroboy  
> Monsta X - Wish On The Same Sky  
> Demian - Cassette

One of Wooseok’s parents’ favourite story was how one time when he was five years old they’d visited his mother’s sister and his older cousins had asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up. He’d replied that he wanted to be a servant. His extended family still joked about that years later.

When he was eight, he’d heard his parents talk about a forest fire that had broken out. For a few days after that his dream had been to be a firefighter.

A week later he’d ditched that career for one in the spaceship engineering business.

At ten one of his teachers had complimented his drawing skills, fuelling the idea of becoming an artist. That dream had lasted about a year until he’d lost interest in it and moved on. This time it had been a doctor, after watching a show with his parents (one of the male leads in it was a doctor and also Wooseok’s biggest celebrity crush for many years as a kid).

Their teachers in school had started telling them about universities and SKY pretty early on, and the mere thought of having to do so much homework had terrified the young boy, and in addition to not excelling in some of the necessary lessons he would need if he went to medical school, he’d started weighing his options.

Most recently, soon after he and Yein had started playing volleyball, his dream had been to be a volleyball player.

Now, at 17 and right at the year when he would have to sit for the university entrance exams, he didn’t know what he wanted to do. It was as if a wall had been put up between now and his past ambitions. Even his last dream didn’t seem as attractive now as it had when he’d first had it.

Volleyball was his current passion, a way to spend time with the friends he valued, an escape from reality… But that was the problem.

He was afraid that if he chose it as a career path, he would realise that he’d only ever enjoyed it because of the two teams he’d been in. What if the pleasure he got from playing only stemmed from the people around him and he wouldn’t enjoy it as much if it became his job?

Perhaps the biggest pressure was the fact that everyone kept asking what he wanted.

When it was his parents or relatives he could just say that he wasn’t sure yet, but with teachers that wasn’t an acceptable excuse.

Especially when he’d just gotten the worst grade in his class on a test and his teacher had asked him to stay behind.

“How do you expect to make it to SKY with grades like this?” Mrs Yoo had asked.

“I don’t think I’m aiming for SKY,” he’d confessed.

“What university _are_ you aiming for then?” his teacher had inquired.

He hadn’t been able to answer her question.

She’d eventually sent him off with a warning to be more careful next time during a test and he’d run to the gym and opened the door with more power than he’d known he possessed.

It seemed like his bad mood had affected his performance at training as well, as he was having a hard time coordinating with his teammates.

He’d suggested doing what Jinhyuk had told him about and they’d split into two teams to play. He could already see that Jinhyuk had been right about this method being effective. They’d stopped a few times to give some advice to each other, but it was paying off, and even their coach was impressed with how they were doing.

Too bad Wooseok kept screwing up every few minutes.

After an incident where he’d sent the ball out of the court because he’d tossed it blindly, completely missing Seungyoun who had been running to spike it, Dongwook blew his whistle and called a timeout.

“Wooseok,” he said, “When you’re tossing the ball-”

“I know how to toss a ball,” he snapped, “It’s the _one thing_ I know!”

The gym fell silent.

It took the setter a few moments to realise what he’d done. He’d disrespected their coach, and not just any coach. He’d disrespected Lee Dongwook.

He wanted the earth to open up and swallow him whole.

“I’m so sorry, sir,” he stammered, “I didn’t mean to say that.”

“Wooseok,” Dongwook’s voice sounded stern and caused the boy to look down in shame.

“Is something the matter?” the coach eventually asked.

Wooseok looked up in surprise. To say that he had been taken aback would be an understatement. He’d been holding the team back, talked back to their coach, he deserved a scolding, yet here the older man was, being concerned for him instead and giving him a feeling of security and comfort he hadn’t realised he needed.

He remembered Eunsang once saying that Dongwook felt like an older brother who was caring but also wasn’t afraid to point out where you needed improvement, and now he could see what the first-year had meant by that.

After the rough start they’d had with their coach, things had gotten much better. He and Seungwoo were starting to get along, both putting in the extra amount of effort to understand where the other was coming from in order to avoid any disagreements in the future, and so far it was working.

Wooseok felt bad for judging Dongwook so harshly when they’d first met.

He could see how much he’d helped them since becoming their coach, and he was much warmer towards them, contrasting the initial impression he’d given them.

He was starting to become more than a mere coach to them, as he would offer to drive them home after school if it rained, ask them about how they’d spent their weekends every Monday and even talk about their plans for the rest of the week with them. He was easy to talk to and share emotions with. More than once Wooseok had seen him pull one of the younger boys aside and encourage them after they’d made a mistake during practice or when they looked like they were ready to give up. And they always came back with renewed energy and high spirits.

Dongwook had changed his image to the complete opposite of what they’d expected he would be like after their first meeting.

“I’m okay, sir,” he answered.

“I’ve told you,” Dongwook said, “You don’t have to address me so formally. Just hyung is fine. And if something is on your mind and you don’t want to share it with all of your teammates, we could always go outside and talk about it just the two of us. You’re not usually this distracted when playing.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry,” Wooseok admitted, “I’ll try not to let it affect me.”

“Wooseokie, what’s wrong?” Seungwoo spoked up.

The warmth and care in his friend’s voice was what eventually made him cave in and let everything spill out.

“It’s just school,” he confessed, “It’s so stressful and confusing. I don’t know what I’m doing and it’s catching up to me. I failed a test and all Mrs Yoo was worried about was how I would get into SKY. But I don’t know if I want to go to SKY, I don’t even know what I want to do, and as stupid as this system is, it’s something I should know by now. I’m sitting for exams at the end of the year and these exams are going to determine everything. You’re right, Seungwoo-hyung, it’s not right to force us to decide so soon, but no one’s going to listen to logic or wait for me. If I don’t sort this out now, then I’m done for.”

When he stopped speaking, he felt out of breath.

Letting go of everything that had been weighing down on him made him feel lighter and being able to be vulnerable in front of his teammates was cathartic. As much as he felt bad for letting down the strong hyung façade he tried so hard to keep up for the younger boys, he knew that being honest about their feelings was something that was necessary for their progress as teammates. He remembered the first time he’d seen one of his hyungs admit his fears of not being able to accomplish his dreams due to the lack of attention their team got.

He remembered realising back then that even the people he looked up to so much were just as human as he was.

“Hyung, you have every right to be worried about this,” he heard Minhee speak up.

“Yeah,” Dohyon agreed, “I’m younger than you but I worry about this a lot already. I can’t imagine how stressful it must be for you.”

“Very,” Wooseok sighed in response.

“I thought you wanted to be a volleyball player,” Eunsang said.

“I don’t know,” Wooseok replied, “Honestly, I love volleyball, but I want to just keep playing with you guys.”

“Sports are a dangerous area when it comes to careers,” Dongwook added, “I’ve been in the field all my life and I just found what suits me best.”

“Being our coach?” Seungyoun asked, smiling.

“I wouldn’t say anyone’s specifically-” the man started but was interrupted by Dongpyo.

“Aren’t we your favourite team, though, hyung?” he chirped.

“I can’t pick favourites,” their coach answered, but his smile and the way his eyes lit up said otherwise.

“In all seriousness though, Wooseok,” he continued, “I understand why you’re worried. I don’t want to say something that will cloud your judgment and result in you picking a future you don’t want, but I will say that your safest option here is to aim high, as high as you want. Do your best so you’ll have options and who knows, maybe it will hit you at the right moment.”

“Aim for the SKY, Wooseok,” Hangyul joked.

“As if any of us have a chance of getting into SKY,” Wooseok rolled his eyes.

“Minhee does!” Eunsang exclaimed.

The gym turned to face said first-year who was staring at them wide-eyed, not expecting the sudden attention on him.

“Yeah, Minhee is the top of our class,” Hyeongjun agreed.

“More like top of our year,” Junho said.

Minhee was obviously flustered by everything but tried not to show it. He busied himself with picking at some of the flaky bits of a volley ball instead.

“That’s great, Minhee,” Seungwoo cheered for him.

“It’s cool,” the first-year shrugged, “Getting into SKY is still gonna be a challenge though.”

“You want to go to SKY?” Hangyul asked shocked.

“Mhm,” Minhee hummed, looking up and smiling softly, “It’s my dad’s dream.”

“Doesn’t mean it has to be yours too,” Wooseok raised an eyebrow.

“I know,” the first-year reassured him, “I do want to go too.”

“And what after that?” Dongwook asked him.

“Not sure yet,” the tall boy admitted, “Maybe a doctor.”

“You’ll take care of us when we get injured!” Dongpyo exclaimed, “How perfect!”

“I’ll take care of you regardless, Dongpyo,” Minhee smiled and pulled the shorter boy into a hug.

“I’m older than you,” the libero muttered, pouting.

“Enough chatter, guys,” Dongwook interrupted them, “Time to go back to training.”

The boys groaned as he blew his whistle.

They scrambled to get back to their positions to resume their practice game.

It seemed that their short break had been a much needed one, as all of them were a lot more focused during the second half of practice. It made Wooseok think that he couldn’t be the only one worrying about those kinds of things. Seungwoo and Seungyoun especially must be thinking about it as much as him. He noticed how much better they looked and hoped that their conversation had lifted even a bit of the burden all they third-years carried.

Training continued quite uneventfully for the most part after that.

One thing that had stood out was Seungyoun attempting a jump serve for the first time and doing a pretty good job at it for a beginner. The ball had hit the net and dropped to the ground, but Dongwook had told him that his posture and timing had been correct and that if he kept practicing, he would surely be able to perfect it.

It was encouraging to see one of their teammates do so well at something as challenging as a jump serve. If they polished their skills and added new ones, they could make it further at tournaments that year.

Eunsang had called for a break a little later, unsatisfied with one of his spikes. Wooseok tossed for him a few times before Seungwoo asked them to come back to the game, saying that no one had seen an issue with the spike other than the first-year himself.

“Will you toss for me again later, hyung?” Eunsang had whispered as they made their way back to the court.

“We’ll see,” Wooseok had replied.

On the topic of spikes, Minhee was doing his best to improve his. He’d even been brave enough to ask for them while they played, and to Wooseok that was impressive growth. He hoped the boy was gaining some confidence and feeling more comfortable around their teammates. Him and Dohyon being his original charges had left him with a soft spot for the two first-years that were somehow both taller than him.

Something notable was Junho opening up at last. In all the time he’d known him, Wooseok had only ever seen him comfortable around Yohan, but after Halloween it seemed that he hadn’t only gotten closer to the second-year, but also to everyone else. He’d started joking around with them, talking more and even seeking out skinship. Wooseok had been so surprised when he’d seen him, Seungwoo and Yohan curled up in a corner of their gym together once during their break. He’d even thought that the spiker had been Dongpyo at first before remembering that Dongpyo had been sitting in his lap and stealing his snacks. And like Minhee, he’d built the courage to go to the front and accept tosses from his teammates.

It was one of those tosses that caused the biggest event since the formation of their team.

The ball had entered Wooseok’s team’s side of the court.

Being in the back line, he received it and sent it to the front in Dohyon’s direction.

Yohan and Junho both ran forwards to spike it, each from opposite sides of the court. Dohyon was going to toss to one of them, and Wooseok knew it. Their opponents knew it too and were trying to read his moves so they could defend their court. The setter tried to do the same.

Dohyon had tossed to Junho twice already during the second half of their practice, which meant that he was either going to keep doing that because they’d coordinated well by then or he would toss to Yohan to take the others by surprise.

Wooseok saw the way his hands cupped the ball as it landed in them and instantly understood what he was about to do. The first-year sent the ball to the left, right in Junho’s direction.

The spiker acted fast, but the opposite team had already read the move and Seungwoo, Minhee and Hyeongjun had already gathered in front of him to block the incoming attack. And they did, sending Junho’s spike crashing into their court before anyone could reach it.

Dongwook blew his whistle to interrupt the game.

“Dohyon, that move was a little predictable,” he said to the boy, “You’d made a good system with Junho, but this was the perfect time to fake an attack and send it to the ace instead.”

Silence.

The eleven boys all looked at one another and then back at their coach, not knowing how to approach the subject he’d just breached. The man in turn looked back at them, trying to interpret their stares.

Wooseok had been expecting this moment to come as soon as Dongwook had announced that he was going to be their coach. The man had been the ace for the national team, it was only natural for him to wonder about _their_ ace.

Even if their coach hadn’t been who he was, any coach (apart from their previous one) would have asked about the ace at some point. They were the strongest spiker of the team, someone the team could almost guarantee would perform the perfect attacks that would earn them their victory.

Hearing the truth would probably disappoint their coach, but there wasn’t anything Wooseok could do to hide it any longer, not when he’d mentioned it himself.

“We don’t have an ace,” Seungwoo admitted.

Dongwook’s eyes widened in surprise.

“What do you mean you don’t have an ace?” he repeated, dumbstruck.

“The last one we had graduated,” Seungyoun explained, “And we haven’t appointed someone else as the ace.”

“I could have sworn…” Wooseok heard their coach mutter, but he stopped as soon as he realised he’d been thinking out loud.

“That calls for another team meeting then,” he said, louder this time so that everyone could hear. He walked to the bench he usually sat on when they held meetings, the rest of the boys following him.

Dongwook had his clipboard and pen ready by the time they were all seated. He flipped through the pages for a bit before choosing a blank sheet and scribbled something on that none of them could see. When he was done, he held it up for them.

‘GOALS’ was written in hasty but bold handwriting, underlined to show its importance.

The eleven boys stared at the paper as if waiting for it to speak to them.

“I think,” Dongwook pulled their attention away from it, “That something we forgot to do when we first met was establish some team goals for this year. It would be a good idea to think of some and see where we go from there. Having a rough plan will help us with our training and position appointments. Feel free to throw some suggestions.”

For a bit everyone waited for someone else to say something.

After what felt like an eternity, Yohan finally spoke up.

“Improvement,” he said.

“That’s a good thought,” Dongwook nodded in agreement, “But it’s quite a broad subject. How about starting with something more specific?”

“Like,” Hyeongjun sounded hesitant, “Going to tournaments?”

“Sounds good to me,” Dongwook replied, “Does everyone else agree?”

He was met with aggressive nodding and sounds of agreement from the rest of the team. He wrote Hyeongjun’s suggestion on the goals sheet, a soft smile on his face which told Wooseok that this was the exact answer he’d been hoping for.

“How about defeating Bonyang then?” Hangyul said with a chuckle, “They kicked our asses last year.”

“They kicked our _butts_ because they were very good,” Seungwoo reminded him, emphasising his replacement of the curse word.

“I still want to get back at them though,” Hangyul insisted.

“Aren’t they like our rivals or something?” Dongpyo asked.

“Nothing that exciting, Dongpyo,” Seungyoun laughed, “Just our neighbours. You always want your music to be louder than your neighbour’s.”

“I can write it down as a goal,” Dongwook told them, “There’s no shame in getting competitive.”

“Sure then,” Wooseok agreed. They were a sports team after all. They had to be a little competitive if they wanted to win. And maybe this motivation would help raise their game spirits.

Their coach did as told and waited for more suggestions.

“How about…” Junho spoke softly, almost inaudibly, “Going to nationals.”

This time it felt like all of the oxygen had been sucked out of the air.

Nationals were a huge stretch. Especially for a team like them. In Wooseok’s mind they were nothing but a fantasy, a dream too good to ever come true.

“Nationals are a bit…” Hangyul seemed to be thinking the same way, “Nationals are ambitious.” He chose his words carefully.

“Ambition is how we grow,” Dongwook told him, “If you boys want to go to nationals then I’ll write it down as a goal.”

“Who doesn’t want to go to nationals?” Wooseok commented.

“But some have a better chance than others,” Eunsang muttered, what all of them were thinking.

“We can still try,” Seungwoo said, impressing both Wooseok and their coach, “Make our own chance. Besides, it’s not like it’s impossible for our team to go. Wanna One almost made it to nationals.”

“That’s the thing though,” Dongpyo said with a voice so small and unlike the usually bright boy they were used to, “Other schools... They call us butterflies. They say we only shone once and that was it.”

“We’ll show them then!” Seungyoun spoke up, “We’ll show them that we’re more than butterflies. We’re a phoenix rising from the ashes!”

Wooseok was at a loss for words. In the three years he’d known some of his teammates, this was the first time he’d seen them be so positive. And to his surprise, it wasn’t just them.

He felt like a fire was burning inside his chest. It wasn’t a suffocating one, though, more like one that spread to every inch of his body and filled it with adrenaline. And with it came a thirst, a desire for victory, a feeling that anything was possible.

He wasn’t sure what had brought it upon him, maybe his coach’s words, maybe his teammates or perhaps it was both of those things, but he knew one thing: he was going to do everything in his power to send his team to nationals.

He didn’t need to look around him to know that every one of them was thinking the same way, he could feel it exuding from them.

This was going to be the year when Cheondae’s “butterflies” would prove themselves.

Dongwook seemed just as eager as them to make it happen, writing the word ‘Nationals’ on his list of goals, but with an expression that made it clear he wasn’t done with the subject yet.

And Wooseok was right. Immediately after retracing his pen, the man spoke again. “If we want to go to nationals,” he said, “We’re going to need an ace.”

He let the message sink in before continuing.

“And I think our ace should be Yohan.”

Wooseok couldn’t possibly describe the sound of shock, disbelief and joy that escaped Yohan as soon as he heard the words.

The entire team turned to their left or right to face the second-year who had his hands cupped over his mouth, eyes so wide they could have fallen out of his skull and body so rigid he looked like he’d been frozen. His eyes darted from their coach to his teammates and back to Dongwook.

The shock still hadn’t worn off completely when he stuttered, “M-me? A-a-are you s-sure?”

“Of course I am,” Dongwook answered, sensing his emotions and leaning forward so he could face the seated boy more directly, “I’ve seen you play, Yohan. If I’m being honest with you, I thought you already were the team’s ace.”

“Don’t you think that m-maybe,” the second-year bit his lip, “Someone else is more s-suited for the position?”

“I don’t think there’s anyone better than you who could be our ace, Yohanie!” came a response, not from Dongwook but from Seungyoun, who had gotten up and was trying to make his way to the newly appointed ace without stepping on anyone.

“He’s right,” Seungwoo said, flashing the boy a bright smile, “Watching you play is really mesmerising. You give off this feeling as if you’re calling for the ball.”

“You look like you’re flying, hyung,” Dohyon added, eyes sparkling, “When you jump to catch our tosses it looks like you’ve grown wings.”

“You’re exaggerating,” Yohan shook his head in denial.

“They’re not,” Junho said, inching closer to his friend and taking one of his hands that were now hanging limply by his side into his own, “I’ve never seen anyone like you before. You’re only a year older than me but when I see you during games or when we’re practicing you look like you have hundreds of years of experience! When I see you spike a ball I feel safe, I know that it’s going to get past the blockers and that it’s going to score us a point because you are just so good at it! If I was an outsider who had to pick the team’s ace, I would pick you in a heartbeat.”

Yohan seemed so flustered by the first-year’s words that he couldn’t speak. He opened and closed his mouth a few times like a fish but made no sound and only put his other hand over Junho’s. Finally, he turned his head to face Dongwook who offered him one of his fatherly smiles.

“I completely agree with him, Yohan,” the man said softly.

For a moment Yohan looked radiant, the happiest Wooseok had ever seen him, and the next he burst into tears, pulling Junho close to him and burying his face in his shoulder as sobs shook his body.

“Oh no, Yohan, what’s wrong?” Wooseok panicked and got up to run to his side. When he reached him he started stroking his back to try and soothe the crying boy.

His sudden breakdown had caused the rest of their teammates and coach to huddle around them as well, each trying to console Yohan as best they could, while also trying to understand why he’d reacted that way.

“I’m sorry,” the ace finally said between sobs, but not lifting his head, “I’m so happy, I really am. I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but I can’t help but,” a sob caused him to hiccup, “I can’t help but think that it should have been someone else.”

“Who else?” Seungwoo spoke softly, “You heard us, we want it to be you! We trust you to do your best in this position and we believe in your talents.”

“It’s not that,” Yohan finally looked up, “Seungyoun-hyung has been playing volleyball for so long and he’s been on the team longer than me. I was on the taekwondo team! He taught me so much about being a spiker when I came here and he’s so good at everything. He should hate me for taking this spot from him.”

“Yohan!” Seungyoun exclaimed, “How could you even think that? I’m so happy to see you take this position. I’ve seen you grow from an inexperienced little first-year to who you are today, and I can assure you, the only thing I feel right now is immense pride. I can’t believe you’re still the same kid I met last year. I’m so proud of you and I look forward to seeing you shine even brighter.”

Wooseok couldn’t lie, his friend’s words had touched him deeply. He felt tears well up in his own eyes, but he blinked them away and swallowed the knot in his throat and watched Seungyoun pull Yohan to his feet away from Junho and embrace him tightly.

It truly had been a year of development. Who would have thought that Kim Yohan, the shy boy who had hesitantly walked through the doors of their gym as if he wasn’t sure if he should go in or turn around and leave and admitted that he’d never played volleyball before, would now be standing in front of them, emotional over being appointed as their team’s ace.

This was what Wooseok could imagine seeing your child growing up felt like.

“Thank you,” he heard Yohan say, “All of you. Thank you for teaching me, hyungs, thank you all for accepting me and thank you for letting me have this position. I’ll make you proud, I swear.”

“You already have, Yohanie,” Wooseok said to him and stroked his hair before wrapping his arms around the parts of him that weren’t covered by Seungyoun.

It didn’t take long for the rest of the team to follow their lead and create a huge crowd of people trying to hug the second-year. Wooseok even caught Dongwook contemplating joining in as well. He chose not to but watched them from the side fondly.

Eventually, it was him who inevitably broke them apart.

“As nice as this is,” he said, “We have some goals to tick off now, so how about we get back to practice? Come on boys! Blockers, spikers, setters, liberos, _aces_!”

He blew his whistle to emphasise his point and the boys laughed as they let go of each other and slowly made their way back to the court.

Yohan was still wiping his eyes from his tears, but the smile that graced his features could have lit up the whole world.

There was nothing else that was particularly memorable from that practice session, but the good mood followed them throughout the remainder of it. They completed their practice game amid jokes, banter and healthy competition. They never stopped smiling and encouraging one another once, even when all they were doing was packing up and changing so that they could go home. Wooseok couldn’t believe he’d had a meltdown a few hours ago, all negative feelings long gone and instead replaced with serenity and happiness. And at that moment, surrounded by his teammates, he wouldn’t have had it any other way.

What brought him out of his stupor was the vibration of his phone informing him of a new incoming message as he was exiting the school grounds and the six words it contained.

 **Jinhyuk:** I need to talk to you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it!! Leave a comment or kudos if you enjoyed and come be friends on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/jinnius_lek) (I'm nice I promise). See you again soon, hopefully earlier this time!!


	11. Puzzle Piece

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, let me say congratulations to Drippin on making their debut today and to WEi who debuted earlier this month!!! I'm so happy to see all the boys on this path and I hope they will know nothing but success and happiness.  
> I'm so excited for this chapter, despite it being on the short side. It's short but important. Like Wooseok.  
> Enjoy!!
> 
> Playlist:  
> BTS - Good Day  
> TXT - Nap Of A Star  
> B.O.Y - Blurry  
> Seventeen - Sweetest Thing  
> NCT Dream - Puzzle Piece  
> 

Whatever Wooseok had been expecting when Jinhyuk had invited him to his place so they could talk, it certainly wasn’t what he was currently standing in front of.

This was a house, impressive on its own since everyone he’d ever known lived in apartments, but a big house at that. Three whole floors from what it seemed, a fence giving the impression of a backyard existing and such a luxurious exterior in general that Wooseok felt underdressed in his hoodie and skinny jeans. He suddenly regretted turning down Yein’s proposal of helping him get ready, but who could blame him? He’d been invited to hang out “at home”. He hadn’t expected the home to be this!

He checked the address Jinhyuk had texted him twice, and even walked up and down the road once to make sure he had come to the right place. All he saw were more expensive houses.

He knew he was probably overreacting, acting like this over a freaking _house_ , but after months of knowing Jinhyuk he had had no idea the boy could be living in such luxury.

He finally mustered up the courage to walk up to the front doorstep. The name over the bell said ‘Lee’, making the chances of him being wrong even slimmer. Wooseok took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.

Almost instantly the sound of loud barking reached his ears. And two dogs, if the difference in the barks as well as their timing was anything to go by. Jinhyuk had never talked about having a dog and Wooseok started doubting himself all over again.

He was about to just walk away and say, “Screw this,” when the front door opened. Two small dogs ran out and to his feet, one white and one black and brown, sniffing his shoes and legs. Wooseok watched them for a bit because he had to admit they were very cute, but eventually looked up to face his host.

He almost jumped in surprise when he saw his coach at the door.

“Wooseok!” Dongwook looked just as surprised as he was to see him there.

“Dongwook-hyung, hi,” Wooseok greeted him, trying to keep his composure, “I might have come to the wrong place. Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” his coach laughed, “Did someone invite you here?”

“I think so,” the setter felt like he was making such a fool of himself he may as well try and figure out what was going on, “Is Jinhyuk here?”

“Jinhyuk?” Dongwook looked surprised, “He’s upstairs. Do you want me to get him for you?”

Wooseok didn’t have to reply, as right after Dongwook had finished offering to fetch Jinhyuk, the boy appeared at the top of the staircase and ran down the stairs, jumping over the last two steps and hurrying to the door.

“Sorry,” he said to Wooseok, “I was studying and lost track of time. I heard the bell but I had to change before answering the door.”

“It’s alright,” Wooseok replied, noticing how Jinhyuk was dressed a lot better than he would be if he was just studying at home, and wondering if he had plans of going out later.

“You should have told me it was Wooseok you’d invited over, Jinhyukie,” Dongwook chastised the younger boy.

“Well, now you know, hyung,” Jinhyuk mumbled in response, “I thought you’d left.”

Wooseok observed the conversation between the two with curiosity. The way they addressed each other so casually and in a friendly way just made him realise that the two probably knew each other quite well. It made him once again doubt if he’d come to the right place and was talking to the right people.

There was no way Jinhyuk could know Lee Dongwook and not have mentioned it once. They were both volleyball players and Lee Dongwook was so famous!

He was only grateful the dogs had started to lose interest in him because standing dumbfounded with ankles wet from dog saliva after they’d decided they liked him and wanted to befriend him wasn’t something he enjoyed. The white one was sitting by Jinhyuk’s side while the other one had disappeared inside the house.

“I was just about to head out,” Dongwook said to Jinhyuk, “You make it sound like you don’t want me here.”

Jinhyuk shrugged in response and tried to offer Wooseok a smile, but it was obvious that he was uncomfortable.

“I’ll get going then,” the older man concluded and stepped out of the house. The black and brown dog suddenly came running back out and went right to Dongwook’s side, as if asking him to stay.

“The dogs have favourites as you can see,” Dongwook told Wooseok with a laugh, “Do you mind picking him up? He’ll follow me into the street otherwise.”

The setter nodded, still too confused to speak properly. He picked the dog, which felt more like a puppy, up. It squirmed in his arms, but Wooseok held it close to him and it actually felt quite nice. It had been a while since he’d last had an animal in his arms. The last time had been when he’d gone to Jinwook’s months ago, before school had even started, which was notorious for being flooded with cats.

The dog barked at Dongwook as it sensed him leaving, causing the man to chuckle and reach over to pat its head gently.

“I’ll be back before you know it, Tan, no need to be so clingy,” he said to it, “The boys will keep you company until I come back.” He then turned to Wooseok, “Take care of the dogs,” he said, “And Jinhyuk too, of course.”

“Hyung!” Jinhyuk exclaimed.

“Sorry, Hyukie,” Dongwook smiled at him, “You know I can get overprotective with you. Let your brother breathe.”

Wooseok felt like he’d been kicked in the stomach. Not because the information had hurt him, but because of how unexpected it had been and how truly mind blown he was now that he’d heard it. Because how could he have ever suspected that Jinhyuk, _his_ Jinhyuk, and Lee Dongwook, the nation’s star and now his coach were related? And not just any relation either, but brothers!

The brother that Jinhyuk had mentioned so many times while they’d known each other, going as far back as the day they’d first met! And all this time Wooseok had had no idea.

In a way he felt a little upset. Or maybe not exactly upset but… excluded? He’d been under the impression that he and Jinhyuk had gotten close, and yet he’d just found out that he hadn’t known such an important part of Jinhyuk’s life. He’d always been so open with him and he’d thought that the other boy had been as well. But he hadn’t, that much was obvious. He started to wonder if he’d been hiding other things from him as well, because if the expression on Jinhyuk’s face was anything to go by, he hadn’t meant for him to know about Dongwook either.

Wooseok’s grip on the puppy loosened as the shock settled in and he only snapped out of it when it almost broke free in an attempt to reach its seemingly favourite owner.

He caught it just in time and hugged it closer to him, cooing to calm it down while also trying to get his own heart to stop beating as hard as it was because despite not being a doctor he could tell that its current tempo wasn’t the best.

“Call me if you two need anything while I’m gone,” Dongwook instructed Jinhyuk, unaware of Wooseok’s condition, “And tell mum I might be late coming back.”

The spiker nodded in response and ushered Wooseok to come inside. He muttered a goodbye to his apparently brother and shut the door before the other had a chance to properly answer or so much as process it.

He turned to face the smaller boy and Wooseok thought he looked the most awkward he’d ever seen him, almost like he was lost or didn’t know what to do. Silence enveloped them and the setter wanted nothing more than to wipe that look of off Jinhyuk’s face and replace it with his smile that put the sun to shame.

“You can put Tan down now if you want,” Jinhyuk spoke after what felt like an eternity.

“Okay,” Wooseok leaned down and opened his arms so the dog could scramble out of them and go back to his daily life of wandering around the house and waiting for Dongwook to come back from wherever he’d gone.

The two boys once again found themselves in an awkward silence, neither of them knowing what to say or do, wondering if it was even appropriate to speak in the first place. Should they keep going as if nothing had happened or was this something they had to address?

“So you have dogs,” Wooseok eventually commented, picking the smallest of the surprises he’d experienced that day and trying to break the ice. He and Jinhyuk would usually have such an easy time talking that what was happening right now was really concerning to him.

“Yeah,” the taller boy sounded almost relieved when he replied, “Tan and Arong. Arong is getting a bit old but Tan is still a puppy. He’s very energetic.”

“I can see that,” the setter nodded in agreement.

Jinhyuk let out a sound that was something between a sigh and a nervous chuckle.

“I thought everyone would be gone by now which is why I invited you over so I’m sorry that had to happen,” he said afterwards, voice picking up speed as he tried to get over his nerves.

Wooseok was quick to reassure him that it was okay and that he had nothing to worry about. He even threw in a story about his dad spoiling his own 50th surprise birthday party by arriving home from work an hour earlier, which he had ironically intended to be a surprise itself, to remind him that things like that happened all the time and to try and lighten the mood. It did little to help but at least they were past the previous awkwardness. Even when they’d first met they’d been more comfortable, which really said something considering the fact that they’d forgotten to introduce themselves back then.

Wooseok couldn’t believe that a sentence that had lasted less than five seconds had led them to this.

Words truly held a lot of power.

Jinhyuk moved past the topic of his pets and everything else that had happened and suggested taking Wooseok to his room and playing some videogames in his room. “I seem to remember a promise to kick my ass,” he commented.

“And kick it I will,” the smaller boy promised

Jinhyuk turned and rushed to the staircase, Wooseok following suit.

Jinhyuk ran up the stairs with expert ease, used to them after all the years he’d lived in the house, while Wooseok trailed behind as quickly as he could while also trying to be careful and not slip and fall flat on his face. After everything, that was the last thing he needed.

The tension had all but eased up by that point and the two smiled at each other from their different levels, one at the top and the other in the middle of the staircase.

As much as Wooseok wanted to pretend they were past everything that had occurred, he knew deep down that this was far from the truth. The emotions were bubbling inside him and he felt like he was going to explode if he didn’t let them out. Jinhyuk wanted to ignore it, so much was obvious; he didn’t want to address it or just wasn’t comfortable enough to do it. Wooseok cared about him so much that he didn’t want to make him uncomfortable around him, but God, it felt like he was being suffocated and he didn’t think he could take it anymore.

 _‘Ignore it, just ignore it. Pretend you saw nothing and keep going up the stairs. Don’t make this any worse than it already is,’_ his mind kept telling him.

He tried to listen, he really did, but two steps away from the top of the staircase and Jinhyuk’s outstretched hand he broke.

“I didn’t know Lee Dongwook was your brother,” he blurted out.

Jinhyuk’s smile dropped and so did the hand he’d been holding out to take his in when he reached him.

Wooseok wished he’d kept his mouth shut.

“I don’t really talk about it so…” the taller boy shrugged.

“I’m sorry I mentioned it,” Wooseok apologised.

“No, don’t be,” the other reassured him, “You saw what you did, it was only natural that you would ask. I couldn’t have hidden it forever anyway.”

So he _had_ been trying to hide it.

“It’s just that…” Jinhyuk sighed, “When your brother is that famous it becomes the only thing people see about you.”

The setter thought about it.

He couldn’t deny the fact that this relationship between the two people he knew had intrigued him and he wondered what it would have been like if he had known this from the beginning. Would he have treated Jinhyuk any differently?

As much as he hated to admit it, there was a high chance he would have. He remembered how he’d reacted when he’d seen Dongwook in their gym before he’d even known he was going to be their coach. If someone had told him that they knew the man personally he would have been just as excited, maybe even so excited that he would have started ignoring the person in front of him to talk about his amazement.

He remembered how often Jinhyuk had said that there wasn’t much to him apart from volleyball, and suddenly he felt sad. Playing the same sport as his brother down to the same position of a spiker must have put so much pressure on him. He thought about how many times others must have compared the two and made him feel inferior to his older brother.

Having a celebrity as a family member sounded really cool at first, but now that he’d started thinking about it Wooseok realised that there was a lot more to having one than just a blood connection.

“I’m so sorry, Jinhyuk,” he couldn’t stop himself from saying.

“Why?” the other asked.

“I can’t imagine how much pressure this must have put on you,” he admitted.

“I’m used to it at this point,” the spiker confessed, “I’m not as good as him and everyone knows that. It would be extremely hard to beat him. And some good comes out of it. He wanted to become a coach and I found him the best team to coach.”

It took Wooseok a moment to realise what his friend had insinuated.

“You were behind that?!” he exclaimed.

“Guilty as charged,” Jinhyuk chuckled, features finally relaxing into the calm and beautiful face Wooseok had grown so fond of, “I knew he was planning to quit his team and get into coaching. He benched me at the spring tournament, so I got to watch the game with you. Your school impressed me, I’m not kidding. I’d never seen teamwork like yours. I mentioned it to him and he did everything in his power to get to you guys.”

“That’s…” Wooseok was out of words, his brain had short-circuited and couldn’t produce any sound that could remotely resemble human speech. He opened and closed his mouth multiple times much to the spiker’s amusement until he was finally able to say, “Thank you. So much! Having Dongwook-hyung as our coach is… the best thing that’s ever happened to us. Thank you for making that possible for us, Jinhyuk.”

“You deserve it,” the aforementioned replied.

Wooseok wholeheartedly believed he would have started balling his eyes out at that moment if Jinhyuk hadn’t reminded him of the videogames they’d agreed on playing only minutes before and grabbed him by the hand to take him to his bedroom.

Just like he had been impressed at the sight of the Lee family’s house, Jinhyuk’s bedroom also left Wooseok amazed. It was much bigger than he’d ever thought a bedroom could be, with two large windows bringing in sunlight, a queen sized bed tucked into one of the corners, a huge desk with a whole computer on it that made Wooseok’s laptop with the keyboard that got stuck sometimes look like an antique, a TV and game console and still lots of room to spare. His suddenly felt the urge to cartwheel across the room to try and compare the size to his own bedroom (don’t ask why specifically cartwheel, it was an urge).

“You are so rich,” he uttered.

He only realized how bad that must have sounded after he’d said it, but he had no time to apologise because Jinhyuk was already laughing and putting on the act of a stereotypical rich snob.

They played Mario Kart for half an hour before they were interrupted by Arong sneaking into the room and sitting on one of the console’s cords, disconnecting it from the electricity circuit.

Jinhyuk immediately panicked and shot up from his spot on the floor to scold the dog and try to fix the error while Wooseok put his controller down and stretched to loosen his muscles. He’d won all previous rounds anyway so he had nothing to worry about.

The screen lit up again and he watched Jinhyuk usher Arong out of the room and close the door so he wouldn’t be able to get back in. The opening image of Mario Kart greeted them, their unfinished game and progress gone.

Wooseok picked his controller back up.

“This is your chance to make up for all your losses,” he challenged Jinhyuk, “And start playing properly too. I would have thought you were playing with your feet if I hadn’t been sitting next to you.”

He started the game up again without realising that Jinhyuk hadn’t taken his seat again. When he finally noticed his absence, he looked up to tease him or summon him to his side again, but he found the taller boy standing by the door, tense and playing with his fingers nervously.

His worry suddenly returned and he thought back to anything he had said or done since Arong’s invasion that could have upset him or set their progress back.

He was about to speak up but Jinhyuk beat him to it. “I actually didn’t invite you here to play videogames,” he said.

Wooseok looked at the bright TV screen and then back at the other boy. The text message he’d received appeared in his mind. It had sounded urgent, but he had almost forgotten about it with everything else that had happened since he’d arrived at the Lee residence.

“I didn’t mean for you to meet my brother either but shit happens,” he continued.

“Is everything alright, Jinhyuk?” Wooseok turned the console off and got up so he could stand by his side.

“Yeah,” Jinhyuk replied, “More than okay. It’s great actually. That’s what this is about actually. Everything about you, about us, has been great. It’s been amazing!”

Wooseok nodded in agreement.

“You’re incredible, Wooseok,” Jinhyuk said, eyes sparkling, from joy or just emotion the shorter boy couldn’t tell, “I don’t think I could ever express how much you mean to me and how amazing you are with words.”

 _‘Neither could I,’_ Wooseok thought but didn’t say anything. He didn’t want to interrupt Jinhyuk when he seemed so invested in what he was saying.

“When I’m with you I feel so happy and free,” the spiker continued, “And wherever we go I feel safe because I’m with you and I know that nothing can go wrong. You’re so… perfect! You’re kind but you get playful in the most endearing way when we mess around and everything you do you make it seem like it has a purpose and your voice makes me feel bubbly and giddy and makes everything you say sound so beautiful. God, _you’re_ beautiful! You’re so beautiful I’ve never seen anyone who could even compare to you. I want to compliment every inch of you but we’d be here for days because there’s just so much to say it’s impossible!”

“Jinhyuk,” Wooseok was sure his face was deep red and his eyes were brimming with tears because he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Was this really how the other felt about him? Such pure emotion directed to him and he could barely utter two syllables, what’s more tell Jinhyuk that he felt the exact same way about him.

Jinhyuk didn’t even pay him notice as he kept talking, “I sound so cheesy now, I’m sure, but why should that be a bad thing? It’s how I feel and even this doesn’t do my feelings for you justice, Wooseok. I like you so much it feels like I can’t possibly like you any more and then you go and do something, anything, that proves me wrong.

“I feel such a need to protect you from anything that could hurt you, but I also feel so safe with you like you would do the same for me if I ever need it. When I hold your hand I never want to let go and when you’re near me your mere presence makes me so happy I never knew I could feel such joy and when we kiss it’s like I’ve become one with you. It feels like you’re a part of me that I hadn’t known I’d been missing until I found it.”

Wooseok blinked his tears away as Jinhyuk took both his hands in his and held them close to him, thus pulling the setter closer to him as well.

“Every moment I spend with you is one I know I’ll remember forever,” he said and it sounded like a conclusion was coming that Wooseok wasn’t emotionally ready for, “So I invited you here today to ask you if you wanted to be my boyfriend.”

There it was.

Everything stopped, time, the Earth’s rotations, the whirring of the game console behind them, the sound of the tree branch that would occasionally brush against Jinhyuk’s window, Wooseok’s ability to hold back the tears that spilled from his eyes and trailed down either side of his face.

For a second Jinhyuk looked alarmed at his reaction, but Wooseok didn’t give him any more time to react by standing on his tiptoes and pressing his lips against his. The taller boy was caught off guard at first but responded to the kiss, giving him everything and Wooseok receiving it.

He pulled away to look into his eyes and say, “Of course I do.”

Jinhyuk’s look of complete and utter happiness made every single tear, every single thing worth it and Wooseok would do anything to be able to see it any time he could.

“Jinhyuk, everything you said,” he said, “I feel the same way and so much more I can’t explain. Meeting you has been one of the best things that’s ever happened to me. It’s like it was destined to happen, because I can’t imagine my life without you now that you’re in it.”

“I wouldn’t dream of letting that happen,” Jinhyuk reassured him and squeezed his hands, “Especially not now. Now that you’re my-”

“Boyfriend,” they finished the sentence together.

For a while they did nothing but stand still, processing everything that had happened and drinking in one another’s presence. It took Wooseok all his self-control to not start squealing with excitement.

“I was wondering,” Jinhyuk broke the silence, “Can I take you on a date now? Our first date as official boyfriends? I’ll even let you pay.”

Wooseok chuckled at the last part. “I’m not dressed for a date,” he said, sniffing.

“Just a walk around the neighbourhood,” the other promised, “And it doesn’t matter how you’re dressed, you’ll still outshine every single person we see.”

“You dork,” the shorter boy pulled his hands free and wiped at his eyes to catch the last tears before they fell and rid his cheeks of the tear tracks that had smeared them.

He let Jinhyuk lead him to the front door and out.

They held hands as they walked down the road and through the parks of Jinhyuk’s neighbourhood, which was just as luxurious as Wooseok had assumed it would be.

They bought bubble tea at a shop that looked like it had been taken from a whole other planet and dropped into its spot, but the drinks were delicious and cheap and made Wooseok want to visit its planet.

They sat down at a bench and talked while enjoying their drinks. Jinhyuk shot one of the pearls at Wooseok when he’d finished his and laughed at the way he’d reacted, trying to bribe him with letting him choose any snack he wanted when they went back to his house when the setter pouted and ignored him in retaliation.

The evening chill made him crumble eventually, when he found warmth in Jinhyuk’s arms and he thought that he could stay like that forever, watching the clouds and snuggled up to the boy he cared about so much.

They made it back to Jinhyuk’s house as the sun started to set. His parents and brother weren’t home yet, which gave them some more time together before Wooseok would start feeling like he was imposing on the family’s day and decide to leave.

“There are some volley balls in the backyard,” Jinhyuk mentioned, “Want to toss to me while I let the dogs out for a bit?”

Wooseok stuffed the remainder of the Pepero he’d taken as per Jinhyuk’s promise into his mouth and nodded, following the other to the back of the house.

He could spare some time to toss for his boyfriend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! They're a thing!!!!!!!!!! And I know some readers have been suspecting Dongwook and Jinhyuk being brothers, so I hope you feel vindicated after this revelation.  
> Let me know what you thought come be moots on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/jinnius_lek) and watch me cry on the tl 800 times a day.  
> I love you all and I wish you a lovely day/night!!


	12. Nonstop

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Playlist  
> Pristin - Weewoo  
> Crayon - Pretty Girl  
> Stray Kids - Get Cool  
> Oh My Girl - Nonstop  
> \--- (skip to the next song at the pagebreak for the best reading experience)  
> Seventeen - Left & Right  
> IU (feat Suga) - Eight  
> CIX - Revival  
> Gaho - Stay Here

“Can I at least get one hint about where you’re taking me?” Wooseok practically begged Jinhyuk as he followed him.

“Nope,” his boyfriend (he was still not over getting to call him that) replied.

Wooseok scowled at him and let Jinhyuk keep leading him while looking for a sign that might give him an indication as to where they were going.

Jinhyuk had texted him that morning and asked him if he wanted to go on a walk with him and show him something. Wooseok hadn’t thought much of it and agreed. He’d only started suspecting something weird when Jinhyuk had asked him to wear clothes he could move comfortably in. He’d reluctantly switched his jeans for sweatpants and a T-shirt and jacket he would usually wear to volleyball training. He’d been tempted to at least put some nice shoes on, but Jinhyuk had been adamant about it so he’d half-heartedly worn his sneakers and rushed to the other’s house to meet up with him.

Jinhyuk’s appearance had only piqued his curiosity, as he was dressed not only in a similar manner to him but was also carrying a gym bag. And not just any gym bag, but the ugly Olaf one he’d had with him when they’d bumped into each other in the street months ago. Wooseok had all but forgotten about it, but now he was not only remembering it but also getting increasingly curious about what Jinhyuk had planned for them.

He’d tried to pry answers out of him but to no avail. The taller boy was insistent about wanting to surprise him. He wouldn’t even give him a hint when Wooseok asked for one.

He kept thinking that it must be something volleyball related, why else would there be such a specific dress code and now a gym bag most likely full of equipment? Were they going to play somewhere? Jinhyuk had a huge backyard though, why was he taking him somewhere else? He started wondering what there might be in that area. Maybe a park or a gym. Better than a fully equipped yard though?

He didn’t want to admit that he was also bummed he wasn’t going to get to spend time with Jinhyuk’s dogs too.

At some point, he started recognising the area they were in as the street where they’d met by chance all those months ago at the beginning of school. And he’d seen Jinhyuk with the gym bag there too! There had to be some connection he hadn’t figured out yet. He made a bet with himself to connect the dots before they arrived at the surprise location his boyfriend had prepared for him.

But they kept walking and he still had no idea what it might be. Jinhyuk must have been enjoying his cluelessness, as he kept making remarks about how cute he looked and trying to pinch his cheeks. Wooseok put on his toughest face that he knew most of his underclassmen were scared of. The only ones who were getting used to more than his tough boy persona were the first and second-years on his team.

“Here we are,” Jinhyuk announced all of a sudden.

Wooseok looked at the building he’d been brought to.

At first glance it seemed friendly enough, grey stone with some light blue details and glass doors that allowed him to look inside and see a desk where two women sat, enjoying a conversation they couldn’t hear.

 _‘Looks safe,’_ Wooseok thought, _‘Doesn’t look like a murder factory.’_

He decided to look up and maybe get a better indication as to where he was instead of thinking about murder. Sure enough, a white sign hung over the front entrance, the words “Namyeo Sports Academy” written on it in bold black letters.

As much as he wanted it to clear everything, it didn’t, so he turned to his boyfriend but Jinhyuk merely smiled at him.

“This is the part where you explain everything,” Wooseok said as if he was giving him his cue in a play.

“I know,” Jinhyuk assured him, “Follow me.”

He pushed the door to the academy open and walked inside. Wooseok did exactly what he’d said and followed him inside.

The two women at the front desk greeted them warmly and the boys did the same, wishing them a good morning before continuing on their way.

“As you know now,” Jinhyuk began as he led him down a corridor, “I have an older brother who’s quite a big deal in our world.”

Wooseok nodded. There was no denying that.

“So, when I entered my school’s team as a first-year, they knew who I was,” the spiker continued, “And immediately appointed me as their leader. And I’m going to be honest with you, I… sucked to say the least. And our whole team sucked when I was the leader. Dongwook-hyung saw this and he scolded me a lot, and eventually, he said I would have to learn how to guide a team from scratch, so he brought me here.”

By the time he was done talking they’d reached a gym door behind which they could hear balls hitting the ground.

“He helped me get a job here to improve my leading skills and I thought you might want to stop by sometimes or maybe even join me,” Jinhyuk said.

“I think I should know what I’m signing up for before agreeing,” Wooseok commented.

“Of course,” Jinhyuk promised him, “I was just about to show you.”

Wooseok let out a sound of approval as Jinhyuk pushed the gym door open.

He barely had time to take in the volleyball gym that had been revealed to him when six young boys who seemed to be around the age of six or seven yelled and ran in their direction, crashing into Jinhyuk and hugging his legs.

“Wah! Did you miss me so much?” Jinhyuk asked the kids, smile wide and eyes dripping honey as he looked down at the boys that were holding him captive.

“Hyung, the big finger was pointing at the twelve and you weren’t here,” one of them whined as he looked up at Jinhyuk, “You always come when it points at twelve. I thought you wouldn’t come.”

“Of course I was coming, Jinwoo,” Jinhyuk reassured the young boy, “I wouldn’t miss our training for anything.”

The boy, Jinwoo, smiled at him radiantly and hugged his legs tighter.

Eventually, the boys let Jinhyuk go and started talking to him simultaneously as he tried to get them in order and ready for what Wooseok was pretty sure was their training. He tried to hear what they were saying, but between the random thoughts that such young kids tended to blurt out and one of the boys stumbling over his Korean, he managed to catch very little of the conversation, so he decided to look around instead.

There were a few more groups of youngsters in the gym, all playing in smaller volleyball courts in the large area of the gym and being instructed by an adult. Jinhyuk set his gym bad down next to an empty court and fished around it before pulling out a whistle which he hung around his neck.

“We have a guest today, boys,” Jinhyuk said to the kids and turned in his direction. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Wooseok was the aforementioned guest.

He felt oddly calm when six wide pairs of eyes turned and landed on him.

“Boys, this is my friend Wooseok,” Jinhyuk introduced him and Wooseok almost snickered but controlled himself, “And Wooseok, these are my little turtles: Jinwoo, Jewon, Heejun, Peak, Wonjun and Eugene.”

Wooseok tried to connect the names to the faces, immediately recognising Jinwoo who had been so excited to see Jinhyuk and Peak whose Korean wasn’t that great. He assumed he must be from another country, as his name was interesting, as was Eugene’s.

The six curious boys continued looking at him and Wooseok realised that he should probably say something as well.

“Hi,” he said with a smile, “I’m Wooseok. Let’s have fun today!”

He cringed internally at his last sentence, but Jinhyuk sent him a smile of reassurance as if telling him he’d done well.

“Hi, Wooseok-hyung,” the kids chanted together.

“You’re so polite!” Jinhyuk praised them and even gave them a short clapping session that made their faces light up.

Right after, though Jinhyuk put his whistle to his lips and blew it. “With that short introduction, let’s get going,” he said to them, “Let’s get on the court, little turtles.”

At those words, the boys lined up and stood in front of Jinhyuk and started stretching, following his guidance. Wooseok cooed internally at how serious but also cute they looked. He did feel a bit awkward just standing still and watching them, but Jinhyuk motioned to him to join in, so the setter started a round of stretches of his own near them.

Finally, Jinhyuk deemed the boys warmed up enough to start exercising properly. He split them into two groups of three and sent one to the other side of the court before picking up a ball and tossing it to them.

Since they’d arrived at the academy and the taller boy had shared the information he had with him, Wooseok had had his suspicions about what exactly it was that Jinhyuk did, but now it was confirmed in his mind: he was to these six boys what Dongwook was to him and his teammates; their coach.

He thought back to when the spiker had offered him advice on what to do to help the younger boys who had entered the team and wondered if he’d learned that method at the academy. And from what he was seeing, it seemed like it. He was so good with the kids too and he couldn’t help but ponder on whether that was some natural skill he had or if being a coach had helped him create it.

The boys obviously liked him a lot, especially that Jinwoo kid. As soon as one of them handed him the ball, he rushed to serve and then turned to Jinhyuk after he’d made sure it had gone over the net and asked him if he’d seen him do it right. His coach had quickly reassured him that he’d done a good job because Eugene from the other team had received it and sent it back into the beginning team’s part of the court and he had to focus on the game.

Wooseok laughed lightly at the sight of his panicked boyfriend.

The sound didn’t go unnoticed by said boyfriend who turned and gave him a sharp glance, somehow without losing his soft expression that he’d put on for the kids. Wooseok instantly morphed his features into a more neutral expression.

He watched from the side as the group slowly eased into the game and their tension rose. He even started noticing the habits of each player, like how one of them, Jewon if he remembered correctly, always bounced on his heels before running for the ball. It was quite adorable.

Every now and then he would notice something that wasn’t too good, but Jinhyuk always noticed as well and took note so that he could bring it up to the boys when the ball had touched down and they were free to discuss how they’d just played and how they could improve, never forgetting to add lots of compliments as well though.

He was satisfied with just seeing all seven of them having what seemed like a pretty good time to him until one of the boys messed up a toss, sending it way too far for any of his teammates to reach and consequently out of the court as well.

Wooseok saw the clear disappointment in the boy’s eyes and it gave him the impression that this wasn’t the first time this, or at least something similar, had happened.

Jinhyuk blew his whistle.

“Heejun, remember what we said about tossing?” he asked the kid.

“I have to control my power,” Heejun replied sheepishly.

“Exactly,” Jinhyuk agreed, “Want to try again?”

Heejun nodded shyly.

Suddenly, Jinhyuk motioned to Wooseok to come closer. It caught him so off guard that he almost missed it. He slowly made his way to where Jinhyuk was giving his lesson, his boyfriend gesturing towards him when he arrived.

“I actually think Wooseok could help you with this,” he said, “I invited him here today because he is my good friend, but also because he is a setter, just like you, Heejun!”

Heejun’s eyes widened and he stared at Wooseok with pure admiration. The aforementioned setter felt flustered at the attention he was receiving but did his best to keep his composure and face the young boy with seriousness.

He gave Heejun a small smile as if saying, ‘Yes, we’re the same.’ The boy was practically beaming by the time Jinhyuk started speaking again.

“I think it would be good if Wooseok gave you some tips from setter to setter,” he said to the boy who nodded vigorously.

“Setters are very cool,” Heejun said, eyes and mouth wide with wonder.

Wooseok could have adopted him there and then. “We are,” he said, “And you’re going to be super cool too, Heejun. You just need some advice.”

Jinhyuk picked up a spare ball and handed it to Wooseok.

“How about we start by showing you how a good toss works?” he suggested, and the boys all nodded. He ushered them off the court so that he and Wooseok could have the space they needed to demonstrate it to them. The fact that the court was built for children didn’t help much, but they could make it work.

Jinhyuk took a few steps back so he could build momentum for his jump, while Wooseok bounced the ball on the ground. When he was ready, he threw it in the air and let it fall back into his hands so he could toss it. Jinhyuk read his movements and started running.

Wooseok had tossed for Jinhyuk before, so he had seen the other’s spikes before and had familiarised himself with them, but it still amazed him how truly gifted Jinhyuk was in the field. Either due to natural charisma or because of training he was easily one of the best spikers Wooseok had seen in their generation. He hated to admit it knowing how the other felt about being compared to his brother, but he had ‘Lee Dongwook’s brother’ written all over him.

He tossed him the ball and it met Jinhyuk at the exact right time for him to hit it and give the perfect example of a flawless spike and a great exchange.

The six boys that were watching them started clapping enthusiastically when the short demonstration was over.

“That was so cool!” Jinwoo exclaimed, “Heejun, will you toss to me like that? I want to be just like Jinhyuk-hyung.”

Wooseok cooed internally at the young boy’s admiration. He remembered idolising other volleyball players as a kid, and this was no different.

Except maybe a bit cuter since it was his boyfriend who was the object of said admiration.

Jinhyuk asked the kids if they’d noticed something about their quick exchange and a few of them had actually picked up quite a lot, such as how they’d checked with each other in the beginning to confirm that they were ready and how Wooseok hadn’t only focused on the ball when he’d tossed to Jinhyuk, but at the spiker himself as well. Wooseok was impressed at how much they’d noticed considering their age, but it seemed like Jinhyuk had set them on the right path to observe well.

It made him want to brag about his boyfriend.

He didn’t give in to that desire, however, and instead offered to coach Heejun one on one. He talked to the boy about timing and force control, which seemed to be his two main problems. The boy confessed to worrying about not delivering a toss on time and subsequently putting too much power into it to make it reach his teammates faster.

Being around such a young kid was troubling at first, but he soon got accustomed to it and was able to adjust his vocabulary to not complicate the boy but without sounding like he was babying him. If there was one thing he remembered from when he was his age it was how much he disliked being addressed like an infant by his extended family and even teachers sometimes.

During his short session with Heejun he would occasionally notice Jinwoo approaching them and watching before he was called back to the rest of the group by his coach, which he found quite endearing; the kid was a character.

At last, he returned Heejun to his team and watched from Jinhyuk’s side again as his boyfriend blew his whistle to announce the start of the next round of their training.

The two observed how the boys moved and waited for Heejun to finally get a hold of the ball so he could try out what he’d practiced. It felt like watching a smaller version of Minhee or Dohyon when they’d first come into their team, the feeling of anticipation and excitement to see if what they’d worked on would show.

Heejun put his hands in the right position, a little loose but Wooseok wasn’t going to comment on that at the current moment, and as soon as it fell into his hands he shot it back out towards a leaping Jinwoo. Wooseok saw the moment when the ball was in the right place for Jinwoo to spike it and waited for the boy to go for the hit, but in a split second the ball moved out of his reach right as he moved his arm. A bit too much force, still.

His heart sank as the ball fell to the ground only a few centimeters away from the young boy.

Heejun let out a loud sigh and stomped loudly on the ground, bottom lip wobbling and Wooseok worried he was going to start crying. He was about to go to the boy’s side to try and reassure him, but one of the kids ran to him from the other side of the court and started clapping once he was in front of him.

“Wow, Heejun, that was awesome!” he exclaimed.

“No, it wasn’t,” the boy murmured, “I missed Jinwoo again.”

“But it was closer than last time!” the first boy insisted, “Right, Jinwoo?”

“I felt it with the tips of my fingers!” Jinwoo perked up when he was addressed.

“R-really?” the light slowly returned to Heejun’s eyes.

The rest of his teammates rushed to agree and try and recreate the scene for him to see just how well he’d done and Wooseok thought they were adorable.

He heard Jinhyuk chuckle next to him and turned to him quizzically.

“I appointed Wonjun as the leader at the beginning of the year,” the other explained, nodding towards the boy who had first gone to Heejun’s side, “He’s shy but he shows his leader side when he needs to.”

“He knows what to do to bring them up,” Wooseok said, watching as Peak made an exaggerated reenactment of Jinwoo almost reaching the ball on time, “They’re gonna make a good team.”

“I hope so,” Jinhyuk said, “I’m proud of how far they’ve come.”

“They have a good coach by their side,” Wooseok perked up.

“Don’t get cheesy,” Jinhyuk scolded him playfully, “But what do you think? Would you like to join the Turtle Team?”

Wooseok hadn’t forgotten Jinhyuk’s words before entering the gym. He thought about it, still not sure about giving any answer. He had only spent a short amount of time with them, so he hadn’t seen what the full position entailed, didn’t even know if he would have the time to stop by as often as Jinhyuk probably did. But he also couldn’t deny that the kids were making a little spot in his heart theirs.

He had an important question first, though: “Why Turtle Team?”

“We name the younger classes after animals,” Jinhyuk answered, “It’s more appealing for the kids and it’s also cute for us too. We have the turtles, the bears, the cats, the rabbits…”

“How come you weren’t assigned to the squirrel team?” Wooseok asked him.

“Hey!” Jinhyuk whined, “Now is not the time.”

“You were practically asking for it,” Wooseok countered.

Eventually, they had to go back to the boys’ training, despite the amusement they got from watching them play around.

Wooseok stood by in case Jinhyuk needed any more help and he was called for a few times, not that he minded. He enjoyed interacting with the boys and helping them as much as he could.

When their parents started coming to collect them, he wondered how the time had gone by so fast. He said goodbye to each of them separately as they left the gym. He was about to turn around to go back inside and help Jinhyuk pack up when he felt someone tug at the back of his shirt. He turned around and found Jinwoo standing there, a coat half on him as a woman he assumed was his mother tried to put the rest of it on him.

“Will you come back, Wooseok-hyung?” the boy asked him.

Wooseok smiled down at him and crouched down to be at eye level with him. “I’ll try my best,” he told him.

Jinwoo held out his pinky and Wooseok linked his own with it as they made the pinky promise.

\---

Balls flew around the court as the Cheondae volleyball team practiced their spikes and blocks lined up horizontally across the net.

Dongwook watched as six members of the team took turns tossing to one another so the others could spike while the remaining team members jumped to try and block them. Junho was tossing to Eunsang, Yohan to Dohyon and Hangyul to Seungwoo. Each of them caught the toss well and shot it forward, causing the rest of the boys to jump.

It had been easy at first, but after going on for as long as it had been, Wooseok was beginning to lose feeling in his heels from how much force he was putting on them to jump higher and higher each time without losing stamina. Next to him, Dongpyo was having some issues of his own.

“This,” the boy breathed out as he jumped, “Is,” another jump, “Torture,” a jump followed by a cry of surprise as a particularly hard spike from Eunsang hit the top of his hand before bouncing right off. Wooseok didn’t want to laugh, so he was holding back as best he could. Dongpyo was a great libero, but he wasn’t the best jumper. As a fellow short player, it felt like the pot calling the kettle black, but the poor first-year was barely able to lift himself off the ground anymore.

Dongwook’s whistle broke through the sound of balls crashing down and shoes hitting the ground.

“Spikers, switch,” their coach announced.

The team members watched as Eunsang, Dohyon and Seungwoo switched places with their teammates so they could toss for them now.

“Ready,” Dongwook called out.

“Can we take a break?” Wooseok pleaded.

“We’ve got a good rhythm going,” their coach replied, “One more round of spikes and then I’ll let you rest for a bit.” He blew his whistle and spikers began their tosses, the remaining five boys letting out groans of dissatisfaction as they began jumping again.

A devilish part of Wooseok’s mind had hoped that since he was friends with the coach’s brother, the man would grant him a few favors every now and then, but Dongwook was very professional and he had ensured that nothing had changed about their mentor/mentee relationship. Wooseok supposed that it was better than being awkward with each other at least.

As the last round of that practice seemed to be reaching its end, Wooseok noticed that not only him but even the other players were running out of energy. On the blockers’ side, Hyeongjun was the only one still capable of jumping relatively high, while the spikers who were tossing were doing everything they could to keep their teammates’ spirits up so they wouldn’t lose focus and stamina. It was working a bit, but they were all merely human and having some trouble with keeping up after about an hour of continuous grueling practice.

When the next whistle pierced the air, they all dropped to the ground instantly. Wooseok stretched his legs on the ground in front of him, Minhee let out the most high pitched noise Wooseok had ever heard from him as he fell to the ground and curled up on his side like he was about to fall asleep and Dongpyo cradled his legs and called out to their coach.

“You’re so mean, hyung,” he whined, drawing his words out, “This was too cruel!”

“Someone get me water, I’m going to die!” Seungyoun cried from where he was lying down in the center of the gym like a starfish.

Water, what they were all thinking of.

They’d established a rule early on that when most of the team was too exhausted to move, the one closest to their bags would fetch everyone’s water bottles. Wooseok looked around him, desperate to remain seated, but in a matter of seconds all eyes were on him and there was nothing he could do to pretend he wasn’t the closest to the locker room.

He groaned in annoyance as he sluggishly rose to his feet. He shuffled to the room like a penguin, not sure if he would ever regain the full ability to walk, and once there rummaged through the bags until he’d found everyone’s water bottles. Most of them had cold water in them, fresh from the water fountain outside their gym, making them cool to the touch and soothing for Wooseok’s aching arms. Maybe there was a silver lining to happening to be the one to serve the rest of his teammates.

He left the locker room with his arms full. He gave Dongpyo and Minhee their bottles since they were the closest to him and let his fall to the ground so he wouldn’t have to carry it around. He rolled Junho and Eunsang’s ones across the floor to them and then walked up to starfish Seungyoun. The boy had his eyes closed as he basked in the relief of being done with the strenuous activity and Wooseok was overcome with an urge like nothing he’d ever experienced before.

He took Seungyoun’s water bottle in one hand, held it over the spiker for a few seconds, and then let it fall straight onto his chest.

Seungyoun’s eyes opened immediately as he yelped in surprise and pain, only to be met with the quite amused look on Wooseok’s face.

“Dongwook-hyung!” he called out, “Wooseok is bullying me! We should get a new setter.”

“Good luck with that,” the setter snickered before moving on to give his other teammates water.

“We kind of need our only setter,” Minhee spoke up sounding amused himself. Wooseok was glad that he hadn’t only entertained himself but someone else as well. They were so exhausted that they deserved some entertainment.

“You can be the setter, Minhee,” Seungyoun argued, sitting up so he could gulp down most of his water, “Or Dohyonie,” he added when he was done.

“I’m not good enough at tosses to be a setter yet,” Minhee replied, shaking his head.

“Nonsense,” Hyeongjun said from the other side of the court, always the supportive friend that he was.

“You toss more than fine for a beginner,” Wooseok assured him, “And so does Dohyon. At this rate, Seungyoun could kick me off and replace me with one of you two.”

He may have been joking, but in the back of his mind, he knew that it was a possibility. Not getting kicked off the team, Seungyoun was just being an overdramatic idiot, but one of the boys being appointed as setter. Dohyon especially had shown that he was more than capable of delivering smooth tosses and he’d even started pulling good fakes too.

He knew that if that happened he would be incredibly proud of the boy, just like Seungyoun had been of Yohan when the second-year had been made their ace, but a little part of himself would lament the loss of his regular position. He tried to kill the feeling off, but it wouldn’t go away. He’d talked to Jinhyuk about it and the spiker had told him that it was normal to feel threatened in a situation like that and that it didn’t mean he had any hostile feelings towards his teammate. He knew he was right, all he had to do was finally just accept it.

“I was thinking they suit being blockers more,” Seungwoo countered.

“Of course you do, hyung,” Junho laughed, “You’re a blocker too. You want them on your side! You’re trying to overtake us spikers!”

“I was actually thinking the same, Seungwoo,” Dongwook joined in, causing all heads to turn in his direction.

“You do?” Seungwoo sounded just as surprised as the rest of them, but Wooseok thought it was for a different reason than what they were. They’d practically forgotten the initial dispute between their leader and their coach, but Wooseok knew his friend well, knew that it still worried him a bit and that he was concerned about whether or not their coach viewed him as a competent leader.

This agreement now was a pleasant experience for him, as it wasn’t just something that concerned a moment in training, but the position of two team members, something permanent that the team would depend on.

Dongwook siding with him was an indication of deep trust.

“I do,” the older man replied, “Their height for one played an important part in this thought. But I planned this particular training for today so that I could confidently decide on some things I’d been thinking about.”

“You mean you had us jumping like that, but you weren’t even interested in us?” Dongpyo exclaimed, voice laced with despair and what sounded like a feeling of betrayal, and it honestly frightened Wooseok a bit.

“Oh no, I was,” Dongwook quickly defended himself, even he himself worried about what Dongpyo was capable of doing if he was angry, “But I was checking something as well. An added bonus if you may.”

This seemed to calm the libero down a bit, and he leaned back against Wooseok’s side, allowing his body to relax fully. The setter wrapped an arm around him in response.

“Most of you switched around between spiker and blocker a few times,” Dongwook elaborated, “I wanted to compare your strengths in the two fields. I have to admit that what I saw confirmed some thoughts I’ve been having about some of your positions.”

All eleven boys were listening to him carefully. Positions were a huge part of the sport they played, and the way their coach had worded what he’d just said made it almost sound like he was not only assigning positions to those who didn’t have any but also perhaps considering changing someone’s existing one.

And until they knew for sure, each of them felt like it was theirs.

“I’m sure you’ve confirmed that Wooseok can’t spike,” Seungyoun tried to lighten the mood.

“Would you stop with the jabs at my spikes?” Wooseok exclaimed, picking his water bottle back up and preparing to throw it if he needed to.

“Well they’re not the best I’ve seen, indeed,” Dongwook nodded with a sly smile, he knew that he could play along without facing the other end of Wooseok’s rage, “But also that Dohyon and Minhee would be two very good additional blockers to the team. Not only because of their height. Minhee has very good reflexes and a good perception of space, so he can quickly read another team’s spikers. He’s always quick to move towards where he thinks a spike is aimed and most of the time he’s right.”

Wooseok nodded in agreement. He remembered noticing this exact quality of Minhee’s very early into their time as teammates. He’d known that it was going to come in useful someday, but back then he hadn’t thought that it would play the defining factor in the position that was assigned to the first-year.

The first-year who looked elated to be praised and having something about him be recognized and talked about in a way that highlighted how special it was. And it was true, not everyone had naturally good reflexes, but Minhee could read movement so quickly and with such ease that it truly amazed his teammates and his coach.

“Thank you,” he said.

“It’s a very good thing to have, Minhee,” Dongwook continued, “So with the right amount of training I can see a bright future for you as a middle blocker. As for Dohyon, he’s fast and he’s strong. I considered placing him as a spiker at first because of his strength, but something stood out to me that made me rethink that. You boys have gotten closer since I first met you.”

They nodded in response. It was true that after many months of being together every day they’d developed a bond that was strengthening day by day.

“You’re all quite close to Dohyon and he is to you,” Dongwook pointed out.

The boys let out similar chuckles of adoration.

“Dohyon is our baby,” Hyeongjun said and ran a hand through their maknae’s hair, “He just naturally makes us want to keep him close.”

The rest of them agreed and Dohyon let himself enjoy the affection he was receiving from those closest to him.

“He does,” their coach nodded with a fond smile, “But this connection you have with him has helped him read you well during games. At that point, I started considering making him a setter.”

Wooseok’s heart dipped for a moment before the coach spoke again.

“But I combined all of those features and added the factor of his height,” the man said, “And reached the conclusion that he would be joining Minhee and become a blocker for Cheondae’s team.”

The boys that were already showering the boy with affection seemingly doubled their actions in order to congratulate the newly appointed blocker.

“Our team all have positions now!” Eunsang said as he clapped with joy, “We’re complete!”

“And they’re so perfect too!” Yohan added.

“I’m glad you agree,” Dongwook commented, “But I have one more thing I’d like to address.”

The gym instantly went quiet and it felt like a bomb had been dropped. There it was. They’d been right, someone was going to be switching position. All boys stared at their coach, waiting for his next words which were going to mean everything.

“Hangyul,” he spoke, and they all turned to the second-year, who looked just as shocked as they all probably did.

“Yes, hyung?” Hangyul said and swallowed.

“How many years have you been a blocker for?” Dongwook asked.

“As long as I’ve been at Cheondae,” Hangyul replied.

“And before that?” the coach questioned him.

“I went back and forth between blocker and spiker for a few years,” Hangyul confessed.

Wooseok bit his lip, knowing that this was one of the things his friend didn’t like talking about much. Growing up in the foster system, he’d moved around a lot as a kid and gone to many different schools and different towns, and the only constant thing in his life had been volleyball. He would play in every team he could until he was moved to another family and had to find another one.

During those years he’d played different positions depending on what each team had needed. Some had refused to accept him unless he covered an area they were lacking in. He’d mostly played as a spiker and blocker, but the occasional setter position had happened.

When he’d come to Cheondae he had thought it would just be temporary, like every other time. The last position he’d played had been that of a blocker, so he’d decided to stick to it when the past team had told him that he could do whatever he was most comfortable with. They hadn’t known how much it had meant for him to finally be viewed as a proper member of a team and not a jack of all trades that they could pull out when they needed it.

Just like how he’d needed having a real family by his side for the first time in his life. It had taken months for him to tell his new friends that the people who picked him up from school every day weren’t his biological family but his foster parents. When he finally did it was because they’d brought up the topic of adoption.

And so, Lee Hangyul who had been passed around for as long as he could remember had finally earned two families, one at home with his new parents and brothers and one with his teammates who were always there for him when he needed them.

Everything had been stable for a year, but now his small boat of calmness and normalcy was being rocked.

“Your spikes are excellent,” Dongwook continued speaking, “Not to say that your blocks aren’t, but if you combine your high jumping skills and power, I’d say that makes a pretty good spiker, don’t you think?”

“I guess it does,” Hangyul laughed nervously and shrugged.

“Would you be okay with this change?” their coach asked him, which none of them had been expecting.

They’d imagined the ordeal to be blunt and straight to the point, not a pause to ask the member who was about to change position if he thought he could handle it.

“I’ve played as a spiker before,” the second-year responded, “It’s not something I don’t know. If you think it would benefit the team more then I can do it.”

“Are you sure? There’s nothing wrong with saying no,” Dongwook reassured him.

“Positive,” Hangyul nodded, “I was almost a libero once, this is nothing.”

Dongwook smiled softly and took his binder in his hands before walking over to where the boy he’d just been talking to was sitting. He then took it in his right hand and placed it on each of Hangyul’s shoulders, like a knighting ceremony, causing most of the boys in the gym to laugh out loud.

“Rise, spiker Lee Hangyul,” Dongwook spoke when he was done.

Hangyul played along, getting to his feet and placing one hand on his chest, over his heart. “I, Lee Hangyul, do solemnly swear and pledge my spikes to Cheondae High School’s volleyball team,” he said in a voice so serious that it was hilarious.

“Now, the team is complete, Eunsang,” Dongwook announced.

And with renewed strength, all eleven volleyball players stood up and formed a big group hug as if someone had asked them all to do it. In reality, it had been nothing but the immense feeling of wanting to be together when they experienced such happiness.

Because today their team was finally ready to go to tournaments.

Starting from that day they could finally dream about taking over stadiums and making it farther than anyone from their school ever had.

The boys huddled close to each other, jumping and cheering, some even close to tears of joy.

They stayed close and felt like one body, one organism.

One powerful team.

Their happiness was cut short by the sound of the incessant ringing of a phone.

It had only started playing for a few seconds when Minhee broke away from the group hug and ran to the side of the gym where his phone was laying, vibrating and the screen lighting up while a ringtone that sounded like an alarm pierced the air.

He picked up the call and moved far away from his teammates for some privacy.

It didn’t do much though, as sound travelled well in the gym and they could still hear the parts of the conversation when Minhee was speaking.

“Is everything okay, mum?”

Silence.

“Now?!”

Silence again but the first-year tensed up.

“I’ll be right there,” he said decisively, turning so he was facing the gym’s exit.

As he got closer the boys could hear the faint voice of a woman muffled by the phone.

“No, I’ll get a taxi,” Minhee was speaking into the phone, “Just stay there and I’ll find a way. I’ll see you soon.”

His mother said something, probably the same thing, and he hung up the phone.

The boys watched as Minhee ran towards the exit and then turned and ran to the locker room when he remembered that he hadn’t taken his things with him.

When he left the locker room, he was carrying his school bag and gym bag and trying to fit his school uniform into the latter with little success.

“I have to go,” he announced, “I’m sorry but it’s urgent.”

“Do you need me to drive you somewhere?” Dongwook offered.

“It’s fine,” Minhee insisted and ran out of the gym before anyone could stop him.

The minutes after his sudden exit found the volleyball players standing stunned looking at where their teammate had just been standing before leaving in such a hurry and trying to understand what might have happened.

Hyeongjun scratched his head in frustration and started pacing nervously, while everyone else could just stand still and hope that whatever it was that had happened could be resolved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love you all so much


	13. Stand By Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back!! It's sooner than usual (by a week but shh progress) which is nice. I had some stressful days with a sudden exam and endless group projects at university, but it's almost Christmas break and that's so helpful to think. I hope all of you are doing well!!
> 
> CW for this chapter: Bullying and homophobia
> 
> Playlist  
> Oneus - Dizzy  
> Day6 - Shoot Me  
> Ashes Remain - On My Own  
> Troye Sivan - Heaven  
> 9reat - Stand By Me  
> V & Jin - It's Definitely You

“Are you sure you don’t need any help?” Dongpyo asked Minhee as the bell ending recess rang and their group started packing up their lunch boxes, “Or just anything at all?”

“Yes, don’t worry,” Minhee insisted, waving the boy off and throwing his milk carton into the trash can next to their table.

As soon as the team had seen him arrive at assembly that morning they had crowded him and bombarded him with questions, asking if he was alright, if what had happened the previous day had been resolved, if they could help in any way… In hindsight, they could tell that it may have been overwhelming for their friend, but they had been very concerned about him after overhearing his phone call with his mum and just wanted to let him know that they were there for him.

The ordeal had followed them throughout the day, even in class for the first-years who shared them. Wooseok had even heard from Dongpyo that Junho had gotten in trouble with his teacher for pushing his desk closer to Minhee’s. He’d laughed lightly when he’d heard. It was honestly heart-warming how close the kids had gotten.

He couldn’t tease them much, however, because as soon as recess had started, he and their remaining teammates had hurried to the cafeteria so they could find the first-years and sit with them.

It wasn’t unusual for them to do since forming their team, they had their lunch together more times than not, but it felt different that time because they were aiming to make one of them feel better and remember that his team would always have his back if he needed them, even if they had no idea what had happened to him. Not that it mattered to them. All they wanted to know was that he was feeling better now.

Even if it meant crowding him a bit.

Thankfully Minhee seemed better than the last time they’d seen him at least. Even when he’d arrived at school he’d seemed a lot lighter, but after spending time with his friends he was back to the smiling and laughing boy they were used to seeing. The sight of his smile and his laughter after Eunsang had accidentally dropped his last dumpling that he’d been trying to save from Junho were enough to make Wooseok’s heart flutter.

His team being happy was all he needed to improve his day. And if Jinhyuk had been there too it would have been absolutely perfect.

He shook his head at the cheesy thought but couldn’t help the fond smile that graced his features. As corny as it may be, having Jinhyuk by his side would have been lovely. He was starting to believe that he’d reached the stage of infatuation where he couldn’t help but imagine every moment he was experiencing with the addition of his boyfriend. He would often find himself caught in daydreams about being able to just lean over and rest his head on Jinhyuk’s shoulder when he missed him too much.

During a particularly tiring class, he’d even lost focus by imagining the taller boy showing up in the classroom, and both of them sneaking out unnoticed by the teacher. The teacher _had_ however noticed him not concentrating and called his name several times until he’d been able to return to reality. Once the teacher had finished scolding him in front of the class and using him as an example of how easy it is to fail in life (very encouraging, if you asked him) he’d sighed in annoyance. So many things seemed simpler and easier when not dwelled on so much or when he surrounded himself with people who could quell his panic.

People like Jinhyuk.

At that point, he’d mentally slapped his brain and told himself to focus on his class.

“Wooseokie, we’re leaving,” Seungwoo tapped his shoulder as he addressed him.

Wooseok internally scolded himself when he realised that he’d done it again! The exact thing he’d just been thinking was distracting and bothersome.

At the same time, though, he couldn’t stay too mad at himself; Jinhyuk was absolutely amazing and so was every thought about him.

When had he fallen so deep into the adoration hole?

Nevertheless, he hurriedly packed up his lunchbox and chopsticks and put them in his backpack so he could get up and follow his friends back into the school building. He was grateful they’d waited for him before leaving so he wouldn’t have to awkwardly scramble in by himself. Explaining that he’d lost track of time because he’d been daydreaming certainly wouldn’t impress his teachers.

“What happened, hyungie?” Junho teased him, “Got distracted? Do you have a secret crush you’re not telling us about?”

That little… Wooseok wondered what had happened to the shy boy he’d met at the beginning of the year who would scare him by appearing near him because he hadn’t heard him approaching. He could barely even remember that time. He recalled Yohan saying that Junho would be more active after getting more comfortable, and the ace had been right.

Wooseok didn’t have the time to give the boy a witty response, as Minhee had turned around immediately after detecting an opportunity to tease his upperclassman. “Wooseok-hyung has a crush?” he asked.

Wooseok rolled his eyes. “We don’t assume that about you every time you zone out during training and miss our tosses, do we, Junho?” he replied in his best teasing voice.

The spiker gasped in surprise while the ones closest to them let out “ooh”s and “aah”s of amusement. The setter simply smiled, proud of himself, and continued walking.

“What happened? What happened?” Yohan asked him when he’d caught up to him.

“Junho got what was coming for him,” the third-year replied.

However, it seemed that Junho wasn’t done with him, as just as few seconds after Wooseok had thought that he’d shaken him off and rendered him speechless, the boy spoke again, and this time what he said sounded even worse to him than his initial teasing.

“At least tell us her name, hyung,” he said with a snarky tone and made his hyung the center of attention again.

The rest of the first-years quickly bounced off of his words and proceeded to make him the object of their teasing, trying their best to name every female third-year they knew, which weren’t that many. It soon turned into a confused murmur of the same names being repeated over and over again.

The second and third-years didn’t say anything, and Wooseok was grateful for that. It wasn’t that he was upset by the younger boys assuming he was straight, he got that enough to not care too much about it after a certain point, but he liked knowing that there were some who knew him.

He was going to tell the first-years too sometime, he was just waiting for the right moment.

They entered the building, mentally preparing themselves for the few more grueling hours of class that were separating them from their gym and training time, but they had barely properly set foot inside when a commotion in the hallway caused them to stop.

Wooseok felt Hyeongjun crash into his back halfway through saying Kwon Eunbi’s name for the fourth or fifth time. The boy squeaked in surprise but soon realised that there was a whole crowd that was keeping them from moving. He tried to peak over the setter’s shoulder to see what was going on, but after having no success asked his hyung instead.

“I don’t know,” Wooseok replied, “I’m trying to figure out myself.”

He stretched his neck and stood on his tiptoes in hopes of catching a glimpse of whatever was happening. He couldn’t see much with the sea of students blocking his vision, some trying to do the same as him, others talking amongst themselves in hushed voices while others even had their phones out and were taking pictures and filming videos. His curiosity only grew, and he tried to stretch even further up.

Suddenly, he heard the crowd around him gasp and then the tell-tale sound of water hitting the ground.

 _‘What the heck is going on?’_ he thought as he shoved past a smaller boy who was whispering something to a girl next to him. The kid yelled after him, but Wooseok simply passed by another row of students, ignoring him, and finally got a proper glimpse of the spectacle that had grabbed the attention of seemingly the whole school.

And it made him momentarily dislike all of them.

Right up against a row of lockers lay a boy who Wooseok didn’t know. He seemed too unfamiliar to be a third-year like him, but something told him he’d seen him before, so perhaps a second-year. But that wasn’t what mattered.

Standing over him was someone that Wooseok definitely recognised. He knew him more than he would ever like to: another third-year named Bae Sanghoon. They were in different classes, but Sanghoon was on the football team, one of the most prestigious of their school’s sports teams. But apart from that, he also had a reputation of not being the nicest person in the school. He knew that he’d been called to the principal’s office numerous times and had heard from others a few things that he’d reportedly done, and none of them were things Wooseok would consider acceptable, humiliating others in class, beating up other students and lifting girls’ skirts in the hallways, to name a few.

Very far from what Wooseok thought was a good person.

And here he was now, pushing a boy much smaller than him against the lockers with his foot while spraying the last droplets of what had been a full water bottle onto him before throwing the bottle on him as well. The boy flinched as the plastic object hit him and tried to cower away from his tormentor.

But Sanghoon wasn’t done with him yet. He leaned down and grabbed the boy by his hair, forcing him to look up at him. The kid’s eyes widened and he looked up at him fearfully, and Wooseok felt his heart clench.

“Now, will you say you’re sorry?” Sanghoon asked the boy.

“I-I’m s-s-sorry, sunb-bae,” the boy said, shaking and water dripping from his hair.

“Sorry for what?” Sanghoon pressed, tugging at his hair even more and causing him to cry out in pain.

“For r-running into y-you and s-spilling-g my water on y-you,” the boy replied.

Wooseok looked around and wondered why no one was doing anything and just allowing this to happen? What made his blood boil were the ones who were laughing or the ones who were filming the whole ordeal, probably thinking that they were doing some sort of public service by filming it and uploading it to the internet “to show the world what was happening in schools” and not realising that they were a part of the problem.

He remembered being in that boy’s position and internally begging for the bystanders to do something, to make the bullies stop or even at least call someone else for help. They never had. He remembered someone saying that they wanted to, but were scared of being picked on as well. Yet he would always step up when the bullies picked on Yein instead of him. He’d only gotten in trouble for it once, but he’d pulled his friend away from all kinds of attacks countless times. And even when the bullies had gotten tired of him and moved on to other targets and he got to see things from the onlookers’ perspective and heard them say they didn’t want to get involved in case they were the next to get attacked, even when he’d been in that position and never wanted to return to it, even then he would pull Yein out of harm’s way without a second thought.

So seeing so many people gathered around this one poor kid and watching him get harassed without doing anything made him feel a certain way.

It made his insides burn with anger.

He hadn’t even realised that he’d walked up to Sanghoon until he’d pulled him away from the boy and was looking up into his eyes. “You got what you wanted, just leave him alone,” he said, trying to keep a calm composure. He thought he heard some of his teammates gasp in surprise but paid them no mind.

Sanghoon snickered. “Thank you for your input,” he said, sarcastically and rolled his eyes before trying to shove Wooseok aside.

The setter planted his feet firmly on the ground and didn’t budge.

“I said, leave him alone,” he repeated.

He registered the sound of murmurs and shuffling around him. He only hoped that he’d provided the boy who he’d defended enough time to get away.

Sanghoon didn’t seem impressed by his defiance. He eyed him up and snorted. “What’s your problem?” he asked him.

“You bullying other people,” Wooseok replied, “It doesn’t make you strong or manly or anything. It just makes you an asshole. Show yourself some respect and start acting like a grown-up.”

The other boy was quiet for so long that it became obvious to Wooseok that he’d brought him to a point where he couldn’t speak. He continued to look down at him with annoyance, but no words came out of his mouth, and Wooseok considered himself the winner of their short verbal brawl.

He looked behind to make sure that the kid was gone and turned so he could walk away without sparing Sanghoon a glance.

But that was when he heard it, a word he’d sworn years ago to never hear again, a slur that used to hurt him so much to the point where it had led him to cry in a bathroom in his upperclassman Kim Sejeong’s arms after it had been aimed at him a year ago.

He had finally learned to accept himself the way he was after a long battle with his inner self, and he would be damned if he let someone bring him down and take that from him that easily. Especially not someone like Bae Sanghoon.

Before he could even question what he was about to do he turned back around.

“What the fuck did you just call me?” he hissed.

He hated the look of pleasure on Sanghoon’s face, knowing that he’d given him what he’d wanted, but this was much more personal to him than some petty fight in the school’s hallway.

“Why? Isn’t it true?” Sanghoon sneered, “I saw you. Last week at the park near the theatre. Try to be more discreet next time if you don’t want people to see you.”

Last week. When he had gone to Jinhyuk’s house and they’d gone on a walk together after confessing their feelings for each other. They had been quite affectionate with each other, but he hadn’t thought that it had been anything more extreme than what he’d seen most straight couples do in public. And he’d been comfortable doing all that with Jinhyuk because he made him feel safe and confident.

Even now, he felt no shame about it, something he wouldn’t have been able to imagine a year ago, hell, even just a few months ago.

His past self wouldn’t have ever believed him if he’d told him what he was about to do, not in the slightest.

“Maybe it is true,” he said, “But not with that word.”

Sanghoon laughed. “Why not?” he said, “It’s what you are.”

Wooseok saw red as he pushed Sanghoon against the lockers he’d been tormenting the kid in front of and grabbed him by his blazer. Commotion stirred around them, but all he could hear was his blood pumping inside his veins.

“Say it any other way, just not that word,” the shorter boy insisted, fists clenching.

Sanghoon groaned in annoyance and quickly raised his leg, effectively kneeing Wooseok in the stomach and taking advantage of his sudden weakness to leave his grip.

Wooseok looked up at him while clutching his stomach, refusing to bow down and let him win. He clenched his teeth and straightened up right as Sanghoon fired back one last time.

“It’s best to just accept some realities, Kim Wooseok,” he said, surprising said boy with learning that he knew his name, “And this is one of them.”

Wooseok didn’t regret punching him in the face one bit.

Sanghoon yelped at the impact, caught off guard. The blow wasn’t enough to cause him to fall, but it made him unsteady. He glared at Wooseok when he regained his balance, and the setter almost flinched.

“You little-” Sanghoon started and moved to retaliate the hit, but someone grabbed him before he could reach him.

At the same time, Wooseok felt someone wrap their arms around him as well, and instinctively squirmed so he would be let go.

“Relax, Wooseokie, it’s just me,” the person holding him told him and he looked up to meet the eyes of Seungwoo.

Opposite him, Sanghoon was being held by another member of the football team that Wooseok recognised as Kang Seungsik. Sanghoon was putting up a much stronger fight than him, but Seungsik was holding him tightly while exchanging looks with Seungwoo.

They were about to pull the two away from each other when a teacher finally appeared, followed by a girl who must have summoned her to the scene.

 _‘Bit too late,’_ Wooseok thought but bit his tongue. It was Mrs. Yoo, and she already disliked him enough.

“What is happening here?” she asked the whole crowd that had never dispersed.

“Nothing to worry about, Mrs. Yoo, we have it under control,” Seungsik replied, giving her a kind smile to hopefully ease the situation.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t going to let them off that easily.

“This doesn’t look like nothing,” she said, “Have you two been fighting?”

Her question was clearly only aimed at Wooseok and Sanghoon, and neither of them made any move to reply. Seungwoo nudged Wooseok as if telling him that if he said something he probably wouldn’t get into too much trouble, but the other remained silent.

“Nothing to say for yourselves?” the teacher pressed, “Alright then, it’s simple. With me, principal’s office.”

Wooseok wanted to protest but once again remained silent as he and Sanghoon were escorted to principal Ma’s office without Seungwoo and Seungsik after Mrs. Yoo had told them to go to their classes and not waste their time.

To his surprise he also found the boy he’d rescued, Kim Yujun as he introduced himself, there, waiting for them. It was thanks to him that Wooseok didn’t get into trouble after the boy explained that he’d only taken part in the fight to help him, leaving out all the details about his fight with Sanghoon afterwards and thus sparing him the week-long detention that Sanghoon received.

Wooseok thanked him for it when they were allowed to return to class and the boy became flustered and insisted that he was just returning the favor he had done for him.

His arrival at his class was followed by some chatter from his classmates, but he managed to avoid them and take his seat after quickly apologising to his teacher for interrupting the class. He knew what they were probably saying, was fully aware that he’d basically just outed himself in front of almost the entire school, but he kept telling himself that it was okay because he had no problem with who he was and he accepted himself, however he still gripped his pen tightly when the whispers didn’t stop and he felt eyes burn into his back.

He only relaxed when he felt Seungyoun who was sitting next to him put a hand over his. His hand instantly loosened up and he looked at his friend with gratitude.

“Did the kids get to class alright?” he asked him, keeping his voice down so their teacher wouldn’t hear him.

“Yeah,” Seungyoun replied, “They were worried about you, though.”

“I should talk to them,” Wooseok said.

“Only if you want to, they won’t judge you for needing some time,” the spiker told him.

“I want to,” Wooseok reassured him, “I’ve been wanting to. I’m so close to them. I was just waiting for the right time.”

“Hyeongjun wanted me to give you this in case you weren’t feeling well,” Seungyoun said and pulled a single tissue out of his blazer’s pocket, “And Dohyon said that they all support you.”

The setter couldn’t help the fond smile that formed on his face. The first-years had really made themselves at home in his heart and he wondered if that was how his own hyungs had seen him when he’d been that age. He couldn’t have been that adorable.

There were a few more hours of classes that went by until they could finally gather at the gym and wait for Dongwook so they could start their training. The entire time Wooseok wished they could go by faster because he was so tired of the constant stares and talk. A part of him felt like crawling into a corner, but another one kept telling him that he had nothing to be ashamed of, that it was their problem for being so closeminded, and he tried to listen to that one and keep going.

The final bell rang, and he practically threw all his things into his bag and ran out of the classroom’s door. He felt bad for Seungyoun and Seungwoo for leaving them behind halfway to the gym when he realised that he was alone and waited for them to catch up.

To no one’s surprise, they were the first to arrive at the gym. They started setting it up, but Yohan and Hangyul soon followed them and, finally, so did the six first-years.

The boys all scrambled towards Wooseok, either giving him hugs or asking him what had happened and if he was alright. Hyeongjun asked about his tissue, to which the setter replied that he had received it well and would keep it in case he needed it some other time. The boy had smiled at him so brightly he wanted to make sure he would never lose it.

It was obvious, however, that the elephant in the room had yet to be addressed. It wasn’t awkward, but it felt like a question was lingering, hanging on top of them and waiting to be dropped at any time, and Wooseok would rather take it and bring it down gently himself instead of having it crash down.

“I want to talk to you,” he said.

His teammates all nodded reassuringly. Hangyul closed the door so that they could have some privacy and so when Dongwook arrived he would hopefully knock before entering.

The eleven boys sat in a circle on the floor and waited patiently until Wooseok was comfortable enough to begin talking. None of the first-years wanted to push him, and the older members who already knew what he wanted to tell the boys kept quiet, not wanting to interfere. It wasn’t their business to tell. They just wanted to support their friend and make sure everything went smoothly.

“So,” Wooseok eventually started, “I’m sure you saw what happened today. And heard it too. It’s actually something I’ve been meaning to tell you for a while now, ever since we got closer. Your hyungs already know because we’ve been together longer, but I want you to know too,” he took a deep breath and then let it out, “I’m gay.”

He wanted to look down, suddenly wary of the reactions he was going to receive, but he kept his head up and watched as all of his members looked back at him with bright eyes and smiling faces.

“Aww, hyungie, thank you so much for telling us!” Dongpyo said, happily.

“Yes, hyung, thank you for trusting us,” Dohyon agreed, “We all support you and don’t think any differently of you.”

Junho was nodding along enthusiastically. “What he said,” he said, pointing at their maknae, “This doesn’t change anything between us all.”

“If anything, it means we’re even closer,” Minhee said, “You’ve told us something you don’t tell everyone, and that means so much to us.”

Wooseok hadn’t thought of it like that. But what Minhee had said made sense, lots of sense. Him being more open and honest with his teammates only meant that he trusted them that much and was comfortable around them.

And he did, he definitely did.

“Thank you,” he said without even realising, “For letting me trust you so much.”

“We were just being ourselves, hyung,” Hyeongjun replied.

“Exactly,” Wooseok said, “Thank you for being you.”

Next to him, Yohan made a fake gagging sound, and Wooseok got up and walked over to him so he could punch his arm. The ace shrieked and whined at him as he turned back to the six first-years who were so eager to hug him some were bouncing on their heels. He felt like he was seeing the boys from the sports academy Jinhyuk taught at.

He gathered as many as he could into his arms and let the rest wrap their arms around him and sat there with them.

Eunsang suddenly giggled a bit and caused him to look at the boy in his arms. “Hyung,” he asked, “Do you have a boyfriend?”

Wooseok felt flustered for the first time since arriving at the gym. He hadn’t expected anyone to ask him that, so he was caught off guard and ended up looking at Eunsang with wide eyes and trying to keep his jaw from falling open as well.

“Eunsang, don’t pry so much, some things are personal,” Seungwoo scolded him, but Wooseok knew he would ask him the same thing once the kids were no longer in hearing distance. His hyung put on the responsible parent persona in front of them, but Wooseok knew him better than that.

“I do,” he replied, winking at the first-year spiker.

The younger boys immediately cooed while the older ones let out a unanimous cry of, “What?!” that he guessed was the result of him not telling them about him and Jinhyuk yet. Oh well, they were going to find out now.

“Ohh what’s his name, hyung?” Minhee asked, his peers quickly showing their eagerness to hear his response.

“Yeah, what is his name?” Hangyul asked, eyebrow raised and making Wooseok realise that he had never shared Jinhyuk’s name with his friends.

Older and younger, they all looked like preschoolers waiting for their teacher to tell them a story, and Wooseok almost laughed at the thought, especially since most of them were quite bigger than him in size.

“His name is Jinhyuk,” he said, and felt heat rise to his cheeks just from mentioning his name. God, what kind of power did the boy possess to make him feel like that?

“And? What else?” Dongpyo edged him to continue.

“He’s also a third-year, and we met last year and started dating last week,” the setter said.

At the mention of last week, it clicked in most of his teammates’ minds that it must have been around the same time that Sanghoon had mentioned, and their smiles were momentarily replaced by scowls of annoyance at the boy for revealing such an intimate moment to so many people. Wooseok noticed the mood dampen and tried to bring it back up with some lighter and more entertaining information.

“And he’s also-” he started, but was interrupted by the gym door opening and their coach peaking inside curiously.

His eyes found them sitting together and he looked at them questioningly.

“Is everything alright?” he asked them.

“All good,” Seungyoun quickly replied, giving him an okay sign and getting up from the floor.

The rest took it as a sign to put a pin in their conversation and get back to it some other time, perhaps after training.

“Well then,” Dongwook didn’t look completely convinced but didn’t ask anything else, trusting them to come to him if it was something he should be involved in, “Let’s start warming up. We have lots to do today.”

He set his bag down and watched as the boys left for the changing room so they could put their training clothes on, as they had gotten caught up and were still in their school uniforms.

After a few rounds of running, stretches and diving drills they were ready to commence their regular training. They set up the net, split into two teams via rock, paper, scissors and the game began.

They had to try their hardest to put everything that had happened that day aside so they could focus on their training. It had been an eventful day, and it was far from being over. Thankfully, the surprises and events that were to come were much more pleasant than the previous ones.

The team led by Seungyoun was given the ball so they could serve, having scored a point in the previous round. Their leader grabbed it and moved to the back, further back than would be necessary for a simple serve, and Wooseok guessed he wanted to attempt another jump serve. It had been a while since he’d started attempting them, but he had yet to be successful. Wooseok admired his determination, however. He hadn’t given up, and every time he tried he looked just as confident as the last, not at all swayed by his fruitless attempts.

He bounced the ball a few times and then held it up. Wooseok saw the determination on his face as he took a deep breath, tossed the ball into the air, ran, and jumped, hitting it exactly at the right moment. All that was left now was to see where it would land.

Most of the time his shots hadn’t even made it into the other side of the court, getting stuck on the net instead. In the few instances that they had, they had either gone out or barely grazed the top of the net.

The team watched, holding their breaths, as Seungyoun’s ball flew right over the net and began to drop in the middle of the court. It would have scored a perfect point too if Dongpyo, being the amazing libero that he was, hadn’t caught it and sent it to Wooseok who in turn tossed it to Junho, the boy earning them a point.

But it wasn’t that that was celebrated.

As soon as the ball had hit the ground, the entire team cheered with joy and rushed to hug Seungyoun to congratulate him on finally perfecting his jump serve. Dongwook quickly joined them, smiling with pride.

“Good job, Seungyoun,” he said, “That was very good.”

“Thank you, sir,” the spiker replied, bowing in thanks, as much as being hugged by his teammates allowed him.

“Thank me for what?” their coach laughed, “That was all you. You never gave up and kept trying harder and harder. I may have given you pointers, but it was you who gave yourself the power to do this.”

Wooseok nodded in agreement, awed by the man’s choice of words. Their coach was really someone worthy to look up to. He was wiser than any of them had ever imagined and supportive like a family member.

“Seungyoun-hyung can be our secret weapon now!” Yohan said, eyes sparkling, “He can just go bang and blow everyone away with his serves!”

Dongwook laughed once again at the boy’s choice of words, “As wonderful as that would be, Yohan, I’m afraid there will probably be other schools at the tournament that can do jump serves too,” he said.

The ace’s face dropped and he pouted, disappointed that his imagination wouldn’t become a reality.

“What could be our secret weapon then?” Junho wondered out loud. Whether or not he had meant for it to be heard, Wooseok didn’t know. Recently Junho had proven to be quite the talker, even to himself. They would occasionally hear him muttering something, only to be told that he’d been talking to himself when they asked if he could repeat what he’d said because they hadn’t caught it.

“Well, we don’t have to have one,” Dongwook replied.

“It would be so cool though,” Eunsang retorted, “Can you imagine us having that one special thing that we do whenever we’re in a sticky situation?”

“Ah but it would have to be something completely unpredictable,” Hangyul said, “Like… I don’t know… Half the team lifting the blockers up so they can be taller or Wooseok-hyung spiking.”

For the second time that day, all eyes turned in Wooseok’s direction. Both the setter and Hangyul took a little longer than them to comprehend what had just been said, and just how feasible it actually was. Their teammates looked like they were considering the idea, and even Dongwook seemed intrigued, while Hangyul looked like he’d just made a ground-breaking discovery.

Wooseok on the other hand shook his head frantically. “No,” he said, “No way.”

“Think about it, hyung,” said Dohyon, “No one ever expects the setter to spike. When the ball gets tossed it’s usually from the setter to one of the spikers, not the other way around.”

“But my spikes suck,” Wooseok insisted, “It’s a fact. We joke about it!”

“So did my jump serves,” Seungyoun interjected, “But look at what I did today.”

As true as that statement was, the setter still had his doubts. “I don’t know, guys,” he said.

“They have a point, Wooseok,” Seungwoo spoke up, “It would be a really creative attack. If you agree, of course. We’re not going to force you.”

Wooseok knew that, it had never been his problem. He just knew that he was very far from being even a good spiker, what’s more one capable enough to be considered the team’s “secret weapon”. The thought of his friends placing all their trust in him only for him to let them down terrified him. The image of someone tossing him the ball and him missing it while the opposite team laughed at their pathetic excuse of an attack entered his mind and refused to leave. If something like that happened to them… he wouldn’t be able to bear it.

But if it went as planned, it could take them places. Seungwoo was right, it was creative, new. And everyone else was right by saying that something like that could take their opponents by surprise and score them good points when they were getting urgent for them.

If one of those spikes could be their ticket to nationals, then Wooseok was more than willing to take his chances.

For his team.

“Alright,” he finally said, “I’ll do it.”

His ten friends cheered again, rejoicing in the discovery of a move that could bring them the victory they so desperately craved. Seungyoun even lifted him onto his shoulders and Wooseok almost kicked him in the face in protest, but eventually just admired the world from the top, from a spot he’d never seen it from before.

He wondered if spiking was going to be like this too, like his teammates lifting him onto their shoulders and letting him see the court from the highest viewpoint possible.

\---

That very evening, he found himself at Jinhyuk’s house. His boyfriend had invited him over to hang out, but also so they could discuss him joining the sports academy’s staff and get the paperwork he needed ready to apply.

Wooseok was looking forward to it, of course (not the paperwork, just working at the academy), but he was also desperate to ask his boyfriend for a favor.

He practically sprinted to his house, despite his father’s insistence to drive him there, and bounced on his heels as he rang the doorbell and waited for the door to open, the tell-tale sounds of Tan and Arong barking greeting him from inside. He fidgeted nervously until at last, Jinhyuk opened the door and greeted him with one of his sunshine smiles.

They walked into the house, but Wooseok’s gaze was fixed on the door to the backyard, where they’d played some volleyball together, just the two of them, the last time he’d visited.

“Excited?” Jinhyuk asked, noticing his high energy levels.

“Yeah,” Wooseok replied truthfully, “I can’t wait to see the kids again.”

“Well, I’ll let you know that neither can they,” his boyfriend said, drawing a smile out of him, “So, what do you want to get started with?”

“Um… Jinhyuk?” Wooseok hesitated a bit, “Could we do something else first?”

“Sure,” the taller boy agreed, “What do you want to do?”

Wooseok took a deep breath and let out what he’d been wanting to ask the whole time, “Will you toss for me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter!! It was a bit of a rollercoaster but it ended well. Let me know what you thought in a comment. I love talking to you!! Have a lovely day/night, everyone!!


	14. Love Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow this is the fastest I've gotten another chapter out!! Which is honestly a little concerning when I am very busy with uni these days haha. I'm so relieved that it's almost Christmas because I need this break so bad. But enough about me, no one cares about that XD Enjoy the chapter, my lovelies!!!
> 
> Playlist  
> Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars  
> NCT 127 - Angel  
> WEi - Doremifa  
> Onewe - Love Me  
> Jinu - Dduk (especially for a certain someone I know huhu you know who you are *wink wink*)

“I love playing with you,” Jinhyuk said softly.

Wooseok smiled back from where he was lying down next to him. “I do too,” he replied. He brushed his hand against the other’s one and let his boyfriends intertwine their fingers and then raise their linked hands to his lips to kiss his, guiding them to rest between their heads after doing so.

It felt so peaceful, lying on Jinhyuk’s bed side by side basking in the sunlight coming through his window and getting this closure of being able to be as affectionate as they wanted. Just staring into his eyes like he was right now was more than enough for Wooseok to be able to forget that there was more than the two of them out there.

He hadn’t told his boyfriend about what had happened with Sanghoon at school. Honestly, he just wanted to leave it behind him, but it would be a lie if he said it still didn’t affect him in some ways. He still got the occasional stares and whispers in his direction, and more than anything, he was surprised the interest had lasted that long. Even the rumours about a girl getting her nipples pierced hadn’t garnered that much attention.

“You’re quiet,” Jinhyuk said, causing Wooseok to sigh. He should have known that he didn’t stand a chance trying to hide something from his boyfriend.

“Did something happen?” the taller boy continued.

“Just something at school,” Wooseok replied.

“And do you want to talk about it?” Jinhyuk asked cautiously.

Wooseok shook his head as much as lying down allowed him. “It’s nothing you need to worry about,” he assured him.

“You can talk to me if you ever need to, you know,” Jinhyuk said.

“I know,” Wooseok replied and smiled. If they were closer to each other he would lean over and kiss him, but in their current position, lying side by side, horizontally, on Jinhyuk’s bed with their legs hanging over the side, it would require a lot of shifting and moving which would kill the moment and just make it laughable.

He made do with stroking his thumb against the back of Jinhyuk’s hand.

Maybe if the situation got worse he would need to talk about it, but right then all he wanted was to enjoy his time with Jinhyuk until they would have to return to their realities and be responsible again.

He let his eyes flutter shut and felt the softness of the covers on his cheek and Jinhyuk’s hand in his. He wondered how Jinhyuk’s hands seemed to always remain velvety soft despite the continuous volleyball practice he did. His own ones were littered with small blisters here and there that he would have to tape soon before they became too painful and a hindrance to his abilities.

“I want to keep playing volleyball with you forever,” Jinhyuk said, so softly that it felt just as loud as his breath and tingled on Wooseok’s face as the other spoke.

“Forever is a long time,” Wooseok told him, although he himself was thinking the same thing.

“I think there are many forevers,” Jinhyuk replied, “The time before I met you seems like forever ago now. Having a broken arm in the second grade sure felt like forever. Some volleyball games seem like they’re taking forever. This now feels like a forever as well. And I hope that our time playing together will be a forever too.”

“So do I,” the shorter boy said and sighed contently.

“Can you imagine…” his boyfriend trailed off dreamily, and despite Wooseok having yet to open his eyes again he could picture him vividly, looking up at the ceiling as if he could see through it and into the sky where the clouds were acting out everything he was imagining, eyes shining with fascination, “Us in a few years. Done with school and with university. Maybe we’ll be living out of town together with some dogs. Or maybe just Tan who you would have dognapped from my house.”

Wooseok let out a small breathy laugh. He should have expected the joke, seeing as he had threatened to do exactly what Jinhyuk had described a few hours ago, with the addition of flying Tan and himself to Mars if it was what it would take to hide from Jinhyuk’s family.

“And we would be on the same team,” Jinhyuk continued, “We’d be a power duo or something playing side by side.”

Wooseok’s eyes snapped open. He turned his head and looked at Jinhyuk who was lying down exactly how he had pictured him. His gaze turned sad when he caught sight of the dreamy smile on his face. Did he have the right to tear that fantasy away from him? Did he have the heart to do that?

He sat up, his hand slipping out of Jinhyuk’s a bit but not completely. He didn’t think he would ever have the strength to let go of Jinhyuk’s hand unless it was necessary. End of the world level of necessary.

Jinhyuk, noticing the shift on the bed looked up at him, his smile fading when he saw his boyfriend looking at the floor and not saying anything. He sat up next to him and took his hand back into his.

“Did I say something wrong?” he asked.

Wooseok hated how worried he sounded just because he was having a bit of a life crisis.

“No,” he replied, “I’m just not sure if I want to pursue volleyball in the future, that’s all.”

It felt like he was confessing something terrible. He knew that his and Jinhyuk’s relationship’s foundations were in volleyball. They’d met because of it, they’d bonded over it, they’d spent hours playing the sport together. Imagining a future where they continued to do so was in no way bizarre. Wooseok wouldn’t judge his boyfriend if he was disappointed in him for what he’d said.

“Ohhh,” Jinhyuk exclaimed, not sounding anything like Wooseok had imagined he would.

He actually sounded… not happy, but content.

“Well we can still do everything else,” he said, “Careers aren’t everything anyway. Don’t worry, the plan still includes you dognapping Tan.”

Wooseok laughed. He scolded himself for being worried. He should have known that Jinhyuk wouldn’t mind. He’d gotten into a relationship with him because they both cared incredibly much about each other. Not each other’s careers or grades, the entity that was the other person. And that was a lot more than a mere career choice.

He leaned over so he could place his head on Jinhyuk’s shoulder.

“Thank you for being so understanding,” he said.

“I would be an idiot if I wasn’t,” Jinhyuk replied, “I mean, hell, my brother dropped fame to do what he really wanted to do. I am the last person to lecture you about what you should do with your life.”

“I meant thanks for understanding how much I need to dognap Tan, but this works too,” Wooseok joked, looking up with a smug face.

“Aish,” Jinhyuk chuckled, “You always make me do something embarrassing. You’re gonna pay for this!”

Wooseok only registered the mischievous grin on his face when it was too late.

Jinhyuk pushed him down onto his bed again and rolled him over before straddling his waist so he could sit on top of him and start slapping his back playfully. Wooseok yelped and kicked his legs, trying to get him to either stop or fall off him. Judging by the sound of Jinhyuk’s laughter, he wasn’t doing a good job. After a little longer of aimless kicking and Jinhyuk giggling with joy on top of him, Wooseok just let his face sink into the mattress and lay still.

“You’re the worst,” he said, voice muffled by the bed.

“Hey, you deserved that,” Jinhyuk protested, giving him one last slap, patting the spot he’d hit him on afterwards, before climbing off him.

He lied down next to his boyfriend and tried to coax him to look up at him, but Wooseok was feeling stubborn. He knew that he couldn’t keep his face buried in the mattress forever, he was already a little short on air, so he just pulled his head up and turned it in the opposite direction.

In a flash, Jinhyuk had jumped over him so he could be facing him with a smug grin. Wooseok rolled his eyes and turned around.

And Jinhyuk, bless his endless energy, did the same thing again.

“Yah,” Wooseok complained, “If you keep doing that, I’m going to break my neck. Let me be mad at you in peace.”

“But what if I don’t want you to be mad at me?” Jinhyuk asked, trying to put on his best puppy eyes, “Come on, I was so nice to you just now.”

“You were hitting me just now,” Wooseok exclaimed.

“I mean before that,” Jinhyuk backtracked, amused.

“That is one thing I’ll never understand about you, Jinhyuk,” Wooseok joked, “How you manage to go from all romantic and poetic to a hyperenergetic puppy in just a few seconds.”

“Well my usual state isn’t sappy and romantic,” the spiker replied, “I only do that with you.” He stroked a hand through Wooseok’s hair as he said that.

The shorter boy leaned into his touch. He loved it when Jinhyuk stroked his hair. He knew his boyfriend used it as proof that he was a cat, but he couldn’t ask him to stop doing it.

Jinhyuk placed his hand on the nape of his neck and turned his head so he could kiss him. Wooseok let go of his stubbornness momentarily so he could kiss him back. Being able to kiss Jinhyuk whenever he wanted to felt like such a privilege. He felt incredibly lucky to have it.

He deepened the kiss right as they heard a knock on the door accompanied by a voice.

“Jinhyuk, are you home?”

The two boys barely had time to pull away from each other before the door swung open. A woman stood on the other side, the owner of the voice they’d heard only seconds before. Wooseok was a lot more focused on trying to make himself look like he hadn’t just been kissing someone or messy from lying on the bed to notice much about her, but even from the brief glimpse of her that he got, he could see the similarities in appearance between her and Jinhyuk.

“Mum, don’t just come into my room like that,” his boyfriend exclaimed, confirming his suspicions.

“I’m sorry, Jinhyukie,” the woman replied, looking quite flustered herself, “I didn’t know you had company. I came in and said hello but no one answered. I thought you’d gotten held up at school.”

“Sorry,” Jinhyuk said, “I should have told you I’d invited someone over.”

“It’s alright,” his mum assured him, “I’m sorry I interrupted you.”

“N-no it’s fine,” Jinhyuk stuttered and Wooseok internally cooed at how he’d started blushing, “We were just talking about school and stuff.”

“I don’t think I’ve met this friend before,” his mum said.

Wooseok was fairly certain she hadn’t seen them kissing. For one she kept referring to him as a friend, without any irony detected, but she was also really calm. He knew for sure that if his own mother had caught him kissing someone, especially a boy, there would be a lot more tension and awkwardness. Unless of course, Jinhyuk’s family knew about them… which he doubted considering Dongwook had never brought up something to him. In all honesty, he didn’t think he was prepared for that. He already got the coach speech practically every day of the week, he didn’t need the big-brother-of-your-boyfriend one as well.

“You haven’t,” Jinhyuk responded, “Mum, this is my friend Kim Wooseok.”

Wooseok stood up so he could bow down to the woman in respect.

“Nice to meet you, Mrs Lee,” he said kindly.

“Nice to meet you too, Wooseok,” Jinhyuk’s mother replied, smiling at him, “Please just call me Hyejin. Mrs Lee makes me feel so old. My oldest son is already twenty-five years old; I don’t need more reminders.”

Wooseok couldn’t help but be reminded of his own mother with the way Mrs Lee talked about how she wanted to be addressed. He could remember countless similar instances between her and her friends who were too polite to use anything other than terms of respect when talking to his parents, even Yein who he’d practically grown up with and his parents considered an unofficial child of theirs. But he also felt really comfortable around the woman. Mrs Lee’s warm and easy-going personality made him feel welcomed, and he could definitely see where both Jinhyuk and Dongwook had gotten their nice personalities from.

“So do you two know each other from school?” she asked.

“No, Wooseok goes to a different school,” Jinhyuk replied, “We met at the volleyball tournament in May.”

“Another volleyball player?” his mother exclaimed, “We’ll be drowning in them soon.”

“We end up finding each other sooner or later,” Wooseok joked.

“I can imagine,” Mrs Lee said, “Are you staying over for dinner Wooseok?”

The mention of dinner caused Wooseok to turn in the direction of the window. He hadn’t arrived at the Lees’ house early in the day, but some time had obviously passed since then. The sun was setting and dusk was settling, the light entering the room now a pale orange colour compared to the brighter hue it had had when they’d ended their short volleyball session.

He didn’t have a curfew, but his parents would definitely want him home before midnight, as he had school the next day. So did Jinhyuk. He really hoped he hadn’t overstayed his welcome. He hadn’t even asked for the paperwork he’d come for.

Jinhyuk’s mother took his silence as him considering it, though, it seemed, because before he could say what was on his mind, she told him, “We love having the boys’ friends over. You’d be more than welcome to.”

“I-I’ll have to ask my parents first,” Wooseok found himself saying. He hadn’t thought he would end up semi-agreeing to this proposal, but he felt like he couldn’t say no to the woman in front of him. She just seemed so eager and excited at the prospect of him staying over that he worried he would ruin her day by refusing.

“That’s fine, dear,” she replied, “Let me know what they said. I’ll be downstairs looking for that other son of mine.”

With that, she turned and left, closing the door behind her but leaving it slightly open. Typical parents. Except Wooseok really couldn’t tell if it was because she was like his mum and forgot to do so or because she suspected or knew that there was something between them and wanted to be able to look in at any moment to make sure they were keeping things PG.

Jinhyuk sighed and walked over to it so he could close it properly.

“So that was my mum,” he said to his boyfriend afterwards, “I’m sorry you keep meeting my family so unplanned. I guess you’ll be more prepared to meet my dad if you do end up staying over. Sorry about that too, by the way. Mum just loves having guests. She invites the whole family over way more often in a single year than is normal. And she always asks my friends to stay over. Even if you say no, she’ll send you off with a container of food, there’s no escaping her.”

“That’s sweet,” Wooseok said, trying to cheer Jinhyuk up.

“She didn’t see anything, by the way,” the spiker said quickly, “We would know if she had. I honestly think my parents believe I lost the ability to have romantic feelings when I started high school at an all-boys school.”

Wooseok winced. “So they don’t know?” he asked, but it was more of a statement.

Jinhyuk shook his head. “No,” he replied, “Yours?”

“No,” the setter said, “Only my friends and my teammates know.”

“My brother too?” Jinhyuk asked, surprised.

“No,” Wooseok laughed, “But that would have been really awkward, if your brother knew that I was gay but not that you are too.”

They chuckled at the thought, but more so at how indeed awkward that would be more than because they found it funny.

Wooseok did want to tell his parents about his sexuality someday, he just hadn’t found the right opportunity to do so. It wasn’t necessarily because he didn’t think they would accept him, something was just holding him back. That part of himself felt like a box with many locks on it, and everyone had to find a key to one of them before being able to open it. His parents just hadn’t found their key yet.

And speaking of his parents, he should probably call them and ask them if he could stay at Jinhyuk’s as his mum had proposed. If his boyfriend also wanted him to, of course. He wouldn’t want to be the source of awkwardness between Jinhyuk and his parents or his brother.

As if sensing his dilemma Jinhyuk said, “I would like it if you stayed. If you can, that is.”

“I’ll ask,” Wooseok replied, smiling up at him.

Jinhyuk shot a quick but cautious look at the door before leaning down to peck his lips lightly. Wooseok’s smile grew and he almost kissed him in return, but Jinhyuk left the room to give him privacy while he talked to his mum before he could do so.

\---

To say that his parents didn’t mind him staying at the Lees’ was an understatement. His mother had been overjoyed and insisted on inviting Jinhyuk over next. She said it was nice to see he had more friends he was this close to other than Yein and Wooseok almost hung up on her. It was all in good nature, but his introverted soul hurt a bit whenever his mum nudged him to meet more people than he felt like. Also, had she forgotten about the time Seungyoun’s mum had invited their whole team, including the graduates, over for a party at the beginning of the previous year?

It didn’t matter, bottom line was that he was currently sitting at a table next to Jinhyuk and across from Dongwook, which was surprisingly awkward considering he saw the man on an everyday basis, while Jinhyuk’s father sat next to his oldest son and his mum sat at the head of the table. They all had a bowl of sundubu jjigae in front of them and there was also salad, some meat and rice as side dishes. Wooseok hoped that they hadn’t made all that food just because he was having dinner with them.

“Don’t feel like you have to eat everything, Wooseok,” Mrs Lee said, she had probably seen him looking at everything warily, “I’m used to cooking a lot. I raised two athletes, I had to.”

“Plus, Jinhyuk’s stomach is a bottomless pit,” Dongwook added playfully.

“Hyung,” Jinhyuk whined.

Wooseok watched the exchange fondly. He hadn’t seen the two interact like brothers before, so this moment, albeit short, really made them feel like a family. He wondered how Dongwook was as an older brother. He treated them so well in training, yet when he’d first learned about the relation between him and his boyfriend they’d seemed distant.

He scolded himself for being nosey and focused instead on the food in front of him as the rest of the people at the table started eating. He was pleasantly surprised at how delicious it was and had to resist the urge to devour the rest of it immediately.

He made pleasant conversation with the Lees while they ate. Jinhyuk’s parents asked about when they’d met, causing Wooseok to feel suspiciously much like he was meeting them in a romantic setting. He talked about the spring tournament, however, and it was inevitably brought up that he was also a part of the team Dongwook coached. They teased their oldest son and asked for gossip about how he was as a coach, something so unusual for Wooseok to see. He knew that his coach had a family, especially after he’d met him at the house, but it was hard to imagine someone he knew in a professional way in such a laid-back and relaxed setting.

“And how is Wooseok as a student?” Mr. Lee asked his son.

Wooseok gulped and the rice he’d just put in his mouth almost went down the wrong way.

“He’s stubborn,” Dongwook replied, but he didn’t sound judgemental, “He likes doing things his way and when you give him advice he pretends to be indifferent about it at first but takes it and improves himself later.”

The setter looked down into his lap, flustered but also strangely flattered. He hadn’t even noticed that about himself, but after he’d heard his coach say it he started remembering instances in which he’d done just that: discredited some pointer that had been given to him, but later, while he was playing, thought _, ‘Maybe I should try it after all,’_ and had, as he should have expected, better results. He was impressed the older man had noticed that, and it filled him with a sense of pride to know that he had such an amazing coach, one who could bond with his mentees and be able to read them so well regardless of how long they’d been together.

“Ah, being stubborn on the court can’t be a bad thing,” Mr. Lee commented, “Jinhyuk used to be like that too. It’s been a while since we last saw him play, though.”

Jinhyuk winced and Wooseok bit his lip. He’d heard about Dongwook benching his brother for two straight years and not allowing him back on the court because he’d deemed him not ready yet. That didn’t mean that it had been easy for Jinhyuk, though, and he could tell from the way he’d talked to him about it.

He hoped he would be allowed to play this year. He knew how much volleyball meant to Jinhyuk, so he hoped that in his last year of school he would finally be able to show his skills again, because Wooseok had seen them and they had impressed him, and he wanted the whole world to recognise his boyfriend for the talent he possessed.

He wanted nothing more than to take Jinhyuk’s hand and comfort him, seeing how the direction the conversation had taken made him feel uneasy, but he didn’t know how much skinship he wanted to display in front of so many new people. He decided on simply inching towards the edge of his seat, a gesture that could have been missed if one wasn’t focusing on him, but that brought him closer to Jinhyuk and hopefully could provide him some comfort.

“Actually, Wooseok wants to start working at the sports academy too,” Jinhyuk suddenly said, changing the topic and surprising everyone at the table, including the small setter himself.

He cleared his throat in an attempt to compose himself. “Yes,” he said, “Jinhyuk showed it to me and I met the kids. It was a nice environment, plus it can offer me lots of experience that I can take back to my team.”

“The boys will never let you hear the end of it if they learned you compared them to six-year-olds,” Dongwook joked, but his astonishment was still evident on his face and in his voice.

“I’m not wrong, am I?” Wooseok replied, causing the whole table to laugh, the mood loosening once again.

“You’re not, you’re not,” Dongwook smiled at him fondly.

Wooseok could feel the love and admiration the man had toward his teammates and it made his heart swell with pride and happiness. They, eleven ordinary boys in an amateur high school volleyball team, had managed to capture the heart of the nation’s pride.

They wrapped up their dinner without any other awkward incidents. Wooseok offered to help Jinhyuk’s parents to wash the dishes but was instantly banished to the living room. His dad had texted him that he was going to pick him up from the Lees’ since it was getting late, so he sat on the couch waiting for him and stroking Arong who was sleeping there.

He spotted Tan approaching the couch as well but retreating after seeing him there. He got up and chased after the dog while Jinhyuk laughed and told him that his obsession with the puppy must have made Tan hate him.

\---

Thursday evenings after school were typically spent at home studying for the boys, but this particular one found Wooseok, Seungwoo and Seungyoun at the coffee shop near the older boy’s house. It wasn’t coffee that had brought them there this time, however (although they did all order a cup of hot chocolate since they were going to spend some time there and didn’t want to be rude), as the table in front of them was a mess of textbooks, stray pieces of paper, notebooks and numerous coloured pens and highlighters.

The three boys fussed over their maths homework in silence, occasionally letting out a grunt of annoyance or playing with their pens as they thought. Their recent assignments, the class overall if they were being honest, had been giving them a hard time, and they’d agreed during school that it might do them good to sit down and try to figure everything out together.

“Hyung, what result did you get on question 5?” Seungyoun asked, his brows furrowed in confusion.

“Seungyoun, I hate to disappoint you, but I’m currently trying to remember when we have to stop adding numbers after a decimal point in question 3,” Seungwoo replied.

“There were decimal numbers in question 3?!” Seungyoun exclaimed and flipped through his notebook in search of said question.

Needless to say, they hadn’t made much progress.

Wooseok sighed. “I just want to fail all of my classes and be sent back to kindergarten, where maths will be 1+1 and I’ll be the top of the year because I can spell my name correctly,” he said with a groan.

“We were so innocent back then,” Seungyoun shook his head.

“I used to be good at maths,” Seungwoo mused, tapping his forehead with his pen in concentration. Wooseok didn’t have the heart to tell him that he’d forgotten to put the cap back on it and that a quite obvious area on his face was slowly being stained blue.

Seungyoun turned to him to ask about the question that was giving him a hard time instead, so they slipped back into their concentrated mindsets and tried to solve it together. What they were left with twenty minutes later seemed like a convincing maths answer, so they prayed it was correct and moved on, never wanting to see the question again.

Only ten minutes after that, Seungwoo put his pen down with a frustrated sigh, picked up his half-full cup of hot chocolate, examined it and, finally, put it down and stood up, asking his friends if they wanted a cup of coffee before heading over to the barista to order one.

He returned with a cappuccino with no sugar, his signature serious business coffee, and two americanos, warm instead of iced because it was getting too cold for those, and handed them to his friends.

So much for a chill study session without caffeine.

The things maths did to people…

Wooseok flipped through his notebook in search of a formula he was sure he could apply to the equation that had been tormenting him. He hoped it was an actual thing and that his mind hadn’t just created it to comfort him for being such a bad student.

He thought he heard angels sing when he actually found it.

With newfound strength and determination, he applied it to the equation and, (very) slowly things started to make sense. He got to the end of the question and jotted the result down with a satisfied motion. He looked at it proudly, as if it was his first child, and then turned the page to start on the next one with newfound confidence finally solving something had given him.

“That’s some passionate scribbling, Wooseokie,” Seungwoo commented endearingly, his tone bordering on teasing.

“Joke’s on you, hyung,” the setter shot back, “I actually had a breakthrough and now I’m a maths genius.”

“If only being a genius was as simple as solving one maths problem,” Seungyoun poked fun at him without looking up from the page of crossed out equations and numbers.

“In Wooseok’s defence, you honestly will only have the right to speak once you’ve solved the one he did,” Seungwoo argued.

Wooseok beamed with pride and felt his shoulders rising.

“Take that!” he said satisfied and took a sip of his americano. He tried not to show that he’d forgotten to let it cool down and it had burned his tongue a bit.

Between his academic results in mathematics and hot coffee, his life was quite a mess.

Except for two very select parts of it. Those two were perfect.

He looked at the next question and started writing the first idea he got. Sadly, he wasn’t even halfway through executing his thought process when he realised that it wasn’t going well. With a sigh, he crossed it all out and started his backup plan, some of his confidence still holding on strongly. When that also failed him, he groaned and then tried to cover it with a cough because he was determined to not show defeat after his previous speech.

It didn’t go unnoticed by Seungyoun, though, that quick-witted fox.

“What’s wrong?” his friend asked with a mischievous grin, “Does the maths genius need a break?”

“I think we all need a break,” Seungwoo declared.

At his words, all three of them loosened up, finally allowing themselves to show their frustrations and tiredness over the homework. Just like how they could calm down and unwind during a game when their coach called for a timeout, calling for a break during studying let them exit their school mindset and sit together as three friends enjoying their afternoon once again.

Wooseok sat back in his chair and ran a hand through his hair. He loved spending time with his friends, but at that moment, he wished he was anywhere but there. He knew that he had to do this, but it was just so hard and complicated and taxing. If only studying came as easy to him as tossing volley balls or running around the court trying to mark where the ball was going to land.

Or kissing Jinhyuk.

He felt a dumb smile tug at his lips with that last thought, and he tried to compose himself before his friends saw it. He played with his fingers and wondered when such thoughts had practically become second nature to him. He felt like a character in a young adult novel, and he had always been convinced those things were made up piles of sugar for teenagers to swoon over. Honestly, however cringy his pile of sugar was, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Hey, Einstein,” Seungwoo waving in front of his face pulled him out of his thoughts.

He hummed in response.

“You were zoning out,” the blocker replied.

“I was happy, you should have let me be,” Wooseok complained and pouted, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Einstein was a physics scientist, not a mathematician,” Seungyoun mumbled but was ignored by his company.

He stretched in his seat, his legs accidentally kicking Wooseok’s knees in the process. “We should have invited Minhee to help us,” he said mid-stretch.

“The kid’s a genius, I swear,” Seungwoo mused.

Wooseok agreed. He’d heard Dongpyo and Eunsang rant about his amazing skills of always knowing the correct answer to the teachers’ questions, even if he’d been asleep for most of the class. He was easily one of the most diligent students Wooseok had met, and he admired him for that. Being a first-year wasn’t easy, adjusting to new schedules and a new school, but Minhee hadn’t lost track of his studies while doing all those things, and he truly found that amazing.

“Seok!”

This time it was loud clapping and Seungyoun’s screaming that brought him back to reality. He looked around flustered and found the few other customers as well as the two baristas watching them with sudden interest.

“Be freaking quiet, you dingus,” he hissed to his friend.

“You keep getting distracted,” the spiker exclaimed. They definitely weren’t making it easy for the attention on them to go away.

“Because I’m tired,” Wooseok said, hunching forward so he could rest his arms on the table and his head on top of them, “I hate maths and I hate that I have to know all of this for our CSATs.”

“That makes three of us,” Seungwoo replied, sounding just as exhausted as he was.

“I wish we could make this easier somehow,” Wooseok sighed.

“You can always ask your boyfriend to teach you,” Seungyoun wiggled his eyebrows at him.

“And what makes you think that Jinhyuk is any good at maths?” the setter asked, remembering Jinhyuk complaining about trigonometry one day while they’d been hanging out and the topic of homework had been brought up.

“I bet you’d absorb just about anything he said to you like a sponge,” Seungyoun said, “He could just be reading the textbook to you and you would learn it by heart.”

Wooseok chuckled. Seungyoun was right. He didn’t think he would be capable of not taking something Jinhyuk said to him without a single doubt. His boyfriend could convince him that the sky was purple without presenting a single argument.

He tried to tell himself that it was because he had a way with words and a convincing voice, but a little voice whispered to him that it was more than that, and he couldn’t deny that.

“In my mind, Jinhyuk hung the moon and stars,” he said out loud, not even conscious of when his thoughts had escaped his mind and entered the physical world, “Although, to be fair, he is more of a sun than a moon. He’s just so… radiant. In every way. He has so much energy he’s like a puppy sometimes. And it’s not even annoying, it’s just adorable. I just want to hug him and run around with him when he’s like that. But then he can also be so knowledgeable. Just a few days ago when we were talking he said such beautiful things that I can’t stop thinking about them. And speaking of beautiful, so is he. Like, really. But with his personality and heart, he could be a troll and he would still shine like the brightest sun in the universe and be the most beautiful to me. I wish I could spend all of my time with him. I just feel so… good every time we’re together! It feels like nothing can go wrong. I know I’m only seventeen and that we haven’t been together for too long, but something inside me keeps telling me that we were destined to meet somehow.”

He could have gone on for hours on end, but he suddenly became aware of how fast his heart was beating as he said everything, and of the looks on his friends' faces as they listened to him. He tried to read them, but they were such a mixture of adoration, amusement and compassion.

“What?” he asked them, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Seungyoun laughed softly at him.

“Wooseokie, do you have any idea what you just said?” Seungwoo said fondly.

“Yes,” the setter replied, a little flustered at that point, “What about it?”

“It just… It sounds like you’re falling in love, Wooseok,” Seungwoo told him.

Wooseok was taken aback by those words. He looked at his hyung puzzled, but the older boy only continued to smile at him tenderly. He turned to Seungyoun who just nodded in response as if to say that he was thinking the same thing.

He thought back to everything he’d said, everything he had been feeling for Jinhyuk since the beginning of their relationship and even further back than that, and tried to find what his friends had just said to him.

He couldn’t deny that the statement hadn’t made him even a little nervous. Because love was such a big word and such a complicated concept. He was still at an age where he would be considered too young to know what love what truly was, but what if he did? What if he understood now that his feelings had transcended those of a mere crush? Would that really be that absurd?

Love was so different for everyone, that was it even possible for him to decide on whether or not that was what he was feeling based on what others had told him?

There were some things he did know, however, and those were that when somebody loved someone they found immense comfort in that person, unlike the one they received from others and not because it was better, but because the emotions that went into every touch, every word, were different. That they could imagine a whole future with the other person and that they were willing to accept every imperfection in them and memorise their favourite things to make them happy.

And he definitely knew that he felt all of those things.

It clicked for him then, and all the fear and worry over the weight of the word disappeared. Because it wasn’t a foreign word anymore.

He, Kim Wooseok, was falling in love with Lee Jinhyuk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the chapter!!! Ah, young love... so precious. Let me know what you think!! I love chatting to all you wonderful people!! And if you have the chance, come be moots on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/jinnius_lek). I'm always up for making new friends. I love you all and hope to see you again super soon with a festive chapter next!! Have a lovely day/night and remember to stay hydrated!!!


	15. The Best Thing I Ever Did

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas everyone!! I hope you're having a lovely day with your loved ones and enjoying the festive spirit. And those of you who don't celebrate Christmas, I hope you're also having a beautiful day. This is a little shorter than usual chapters, but it's kind of a Christmas special. I hope you like it.
> 
> Playlist  
> Drippin - Shine  
> MAS 0094 - Starlight  
> NCT U - From Home  
> BTS - Crystal Snow  
> (for a more enjoyable reading experience skip to the next song when Hangyul says "like a family")  
> Twice - The Best Thing I Ever Did

“Are we sure this is a good idea?” Dohyon asked hesitantly, clutching his backpack to his chest.

“Of course it is,” Hangyul reassured him, tossing his backpack over the fence into Yohan’s waiting arms, “We’re gonna have a great time.”

“If we don’t get caught,” the maknae insisted as he watched the spiker climb over the fence and jump onto the ground.

“We’ll be fine, Dohyon, don’t worry,” Wooseok reassured him and pulled his own backpack off his shoulders.

“Dohyon, you might need to let Wooseok-hyung stand on your shoulders, so stop worrying and help him out,” Junho called out as he put one leg over the fence to join his other one. He jumped down with a giggle right when Wooseok shook a fist at him.

He didn’t end up needing help, which he made sure to point out to his underclassman once they were both on the other side of the fence and inside their school’s grounds.

He didn’t want to tell Dohyon, but they _were_ going to be in a lot of trouble if they did get caught. Technically they were breaking and entering, but the fence didn’t have a guard and Seungwoo had the keys to the gym, so were they really? They weren’t going to do anything horrible anyway, just sleep in their gym together as a team.

But there was no way there was anyone at the school other than them. It was Christmas Eve, everyone must be with their families. No one was insane enough to want to be in school on Christmas Eve. Except for them, of course.

It had been Hyeongjun’s idea. Wooseok knew that the blocker could be corny sometimes, but he honestly hadn’t had it in him to be that corny. The idea had been proposed on their team’s group chat, the one without their coach, a mistake they’d been very careful not to make again ever since Eunsang had asked Minhee to copy his homework in that one and they’d all gotten a talking-to from Dongwook about the importance of not cheating. It would be hard to repeat that, though, as Yohan had renamed their chat ‘you can cheat here, it’s okay’.

Hyeongjun had suggested a few days ago that they all have a sleepover on Christmas Eve so they could wake up on Christmas together and get coffee before heading home to their families. It was a sweet idea, and Wooseok had smiled fondly while reading the message. The next one had just made him frown, however, as it had been the words, ‘How about we break into the gym?’

Of course, the team had enthusiastically agreed.

And that was how they’d ended up jumping over the school’s fence with their backpacks stuffed with snacks, sleeping bags, blankets, and, in Dongpyo’s case, scented candles. The libero had argued that the gym smelt like armpits and kneepads when he’d told them, and insisted that they would need them if they were going to sleep there, and no one judged him further after that. They’d handled his backpack with much care as they passed it over the fence.

As for their families, they all thought they were sleeping over at Seungwoo’s place, and the leader’s parents thought they were going to be at Seungyoun’s, so unless they called each other, which was unlikely since the boys had agreed not to provide them with phone numbers, they would be alright.

Wooseok reached out to help Dohyon who had finally followed his hyungs over the fence. He hoisted him down with Yohan’s help and watched as Seungwoo counted everyone and their bags to make sure they had everyone and everything. Minhee, Hyeongjun and Junho had taken to running around in the open space while they waited for their friends, so the leader had to look for them, but he soon counted all eleven of them and they could move to the gym.

Seungwoo insisted on them all being quiet while they walked the short distance. Eunsang had been trying to get Dohyon to loosen up, so they were emitting small giggles that they were trying to muffle. Wooseok had half the mind to playfully scold them for it, but he worried it would just scare the maknae and decided not to. He just watched them adoringly.

Seungwoo put a finger to his lips and shushed them again while he pulled the gym’s keys out of his pocket to unlock the door. The sound the door made when they slid it open was louder than any sound they’d been making before. If anything was going to get them caught, that was it. They quickly shuffled inside and turned the lights on so that Seungwoo could close the door again and shield them from view.

Being inside the gym for a reason that wasn’t training was definitely a new feeling for Wooseok. It felt so different. The gym was a lot quieter than he’d ever thought he’d heard it be and it almost seemed bigger. No balls were flying around, no coach Lee blowing his whistle, no shouts of, “Me!” or, “Mine!” It felt like a whole other room, but at the same time, it still felt familiar and comforting, a room where they all came together and became one.

The boys dropped their backpacks by the entrance but kept their coats on. The heating wasn’t on inside the gym and it was too cold to take them off yet. Yohan turned the air conditioner on, so it would reach a somewhat warmer temperature soon, but they were going to have to rely on huddling close for warmth to sleep. Wooseok hoped none of his teammates kicked in their sleep.

Dongpyo immediately got to lighting his scented candles and placing them in different spots in the gym. Wooseok had to admit that the smell was a lot more pungent when they weren’t training, so he was thankful for their libero’s idea.

Slowly but surely, the air started to smell more and more like vanilla and cinnamon and the room got warmer and more welcoming.

“We should have brought a speaker,” Seungyoun said, “So we could play Christmas songs.”

“We can sing them instead,” Hangyul offered, and immediately began chanting Holy Night.

Yohan and Seungyoun soon joined in, the latter pulling Dohyon in as well. Wooseok couldn’t help but chuckle at their off-key singing and ridiculous grand gestures. They looked like a small but very enthusiastic Christmas choir. Minhee looked around in his bag for his wallet from which he extracted a 5,000 won bill and placed it in front of them as if he was a passer-by and Seungyoun tipped an imaginary hat in gratitude. It looked like a scene someone would find while in a square or mall on Christmas day.

Until Junho snuck up to them, grabbed the money, and made a run for the other side of the gym with Minhee hot on his trail, yelling, that is.

After some wrestling, mindful so they wouldn’t knock over Dongpyo’s candles, which the first-year was very adamant about, Junho managed to pocket the money and shrug Minhee off him. “You better buy me a coffee or something with that,” the boy muttered, clearly annoyed that he had been overtaken by the smaller spiker.

“I might,” Junho replied with a smile that made his eyes close.

“You two come help us set up the sleeping bags and stop fighting,” Dongpyo called out to them from where he and the second and third-years had started unwrapping the sleeping bags they’d all brought. Meanwhile Eunsang, Hyeongjun and Dohyon sat beside them and watched.

Minhee raised an eyebrow at the sight, but the three boys simply smiled back innocently in response.

The way they passed around sleeping bags and blankets, they all got mixed up, so no one ended up with the stuff they’d brought. Lying down so close, however, like a litter of kittens snuggled close, Wooseok could barely even tell where the white blanket with unicorn prints he’d been given ended and where Junho’s bright blue one with the embroidered rocket began. He was also pretty sure that he was partly lying on Yohan’s sleeping bag, but he wasn’t going to attempt to move the whole team because of it, so he let it be.

He felt Junho inch closer to him and place his hand on top of his, and he felt his heart melt at the affection the first-year didn’t give him all too often. He took the boy’s hand in his and squeezed it, and Junho looked up at him from where he was lying down softly.

On his other side, Yohan tried to cuddle him, effectively pulling him away from Junho, so Wooseok shrugged him off with an annoyed groan. The ace pouted and turned around to hug Dongpyo instead. Judging from the laughs and giggles he heard from them, they were satisfied with that arrangement. He let Junho snuggle up to him with his head on Wooseok’s shoulder.

It was quiet. Only the whirring of the air conditioner was audible, as well as the light breaths of those around them. The lights were now off, casting darkness over the room only brightened by the flickering of Dongpyo’s candles that they should remember to blow out before falling asleep.

Junho sighed in Wooseok’s arms, and the setter panicked, thinking something was wrong, but when he looked at the boy, he seemed content and comfortable. “This is nice,” he said.

Their teammates all hummed in agreement.

“We should have done this earlier,” Minhee said.

“We can do it again,” Hangyul reassured him, “Maybe even invite coach next time too.”

“Maybe not yet,” Seungwoo said, “I’m still not used to the fact that I see Lee Dongwook every week, I think seeing him in pyjamas will be too much.”

The boys laughed, each of them conjuring up their own image of their coach in animal print pyjamas or onesies, but all Wooseok’s mind supplied him with was, _‘You’ve seen him in the most casual state out of all of them.’_ Perhaps under different circumstances, he would have shared the story as a fun anecdote, a late-night story before bed, but things were more complicated now.

Sometimes he had to remind himself that he was dating his coach’s brother, and that made him feel all sorts of ways. On one hand, he didn’t like hiding things from his team, but this was something big, and he felt like he had the right to be a bit secretive about it. Would they treat him differently if they knew it? Would they think that their coach was giving him an easier time just because of his relationship with his brother? Would they even believe him if he truthfully told them that their coach didn’t know about it yet, or would they see it as him making excuses?

He shook his head, accidentally, hitting Junho’s lightly in the process and immediately apologising to him. It was stupid, he knew his teammates better than this. And yet he couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Everyone at school had been treating him so strangely and unlike they used to after the incident with Sanghoon, it didn’t seem that absurd that his friends would too at this point.

He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to think of anything that wasn’t his team turning their backs on him. Just the thought of it caused his heart to ache, he didn’t want to dwell on it too much. He must have tightened his hold on Junho, because he felt the first-year shift and look up at him questioningly, concern evident in his eyes. He smiled at him softly in response and shook his head, trying to tell him not to worry without garnering the attention of any more of their teammates. Junho didn’t look convinced, but before he could press him for an answer, Yohan’s voice caused everyone to crane their heads in his direction.

“I feel so lucky,” the boy said, “I never thought that I would have a team like this someday. I couldn’t even imagine leaving taekwondo. I thought that I was going to keep doing that for the rest of my life, trying to convince myself it was what I wanted.”

Wooseok heard his voice catch as he spoke, and felt his heart sink. He knew about Yohan’s relationship with taekwondo, he had told them after joining the volleyball club, but anyone who had been at their school for as long as them had known that something had happened when Yohan had pulled out of the taekwondo club. He was easily one of, if not _the_ most, skilled member of the team, helping them win multiple tournaments in only the one year he’d been with them, as well as countless individual achievements. People had thought he’d gotten injured and couldn’t play anymore, but it didn’t take long for the news to spread that he had joined the volleyball team instead, debunking that theory.

Even the volleyball club members had been surprised to see him. He’d carried himself in a way that had screamed, ‘I’m not sure about this,’ but he had promised them that he would work hard to not hold them back and be up to par with their skills, only later telling them the whole story that had led to him leaving not only the taekwondo club but also taekwondo completely.

As far as Wooseok knew, the first-years on their team didn’t know much about Yohan’s past in taekwondo. He could see Yohan telling Junho, perhaps, since they were joint at the hip, but judging by how confused Junho looked staring at his friend, he was pretty sure that was not the case.

On his other side, Dongpyo was holding onto Yohan tightly while Seungwoo ran a hand through the ace’s hair.

“When things have been one way your whole life it’s hard to break away from them and do something different,” the second-year continued, “I never felt threatened that my family would turn on me for quitting, I was never scared of them. It was me I was scared of. How did I know that I wanted to quit? Why was volleyball so important to me when I had never played it before in my life? Was I just about to make the biggest mistake of my life? I thought that every day.”

“Big changes are scary,” Eunsang commented, “Taking a chance as you did, hyung, it must have taken so much courage.”

Even without knowing the whole story, he was trying to comfort his friend, and his understanding voice made his care obvious. Wooseok knew that Eunsang admired Yohan for his skills, so seeing someone he looked up to open his heart and admit that things hadn’t always been easy for him must not have been easy. People we look up to can seem untouchable sometimes.

“Honestly, more than anything it took acceptance,” Yohan admitted, “I kept doubting if I really wasn’t interested in taekwondo but…” He bit his lip and Wooseok pet his arm gently.

“It was always like second nature to me, like learning to walk and talk,” he continued, “You never question those things, you never wonder why you’re doing them and if they really make you happy. But ever since I was young, when my family would all watch TV together, something about the volleyball games would call to me. I didn’t understand what it was for a long time. I was never interested in other sports at school, but I would spend hours watching volleyball games and trying to learn how to play on my own with the spare footballs our teacher would give us.

“But it wasn’t until years later that I realised that something was… wrong. I hadn’t noticed it for a long time, but I could never relate to the other athletes I would be around when they talked about how they felt whenever they won or lost competitions. All my life losing would mean that my parents would be sad, and winning that they would be happy. So, hearing people say that they themselves felt disappointed or accomplished clicked something in my brain and made me wonder if something was wrong with me. I tried to ignore it, to push it down and continue, but something happened that made it impossible to ignore any further.

“In my first year of high school, I won the gold medal at a very prestigious competition.

“And as I stood on the podium with my medal around my neck, cameras pointing at me and my name being called from all around a stadium I felt nothing.

“It’s really embarrassing, but you can probably still find the moment I doubted everything I’d ever known on the internet. I just started crying in front of everyone, but they all thought it was out of joy of winning. My victory was the last thing on my mind. All I wanted was to get off the podium and rip the medal and my dobok off. When we were finally allowed to leave, my parents kept trying to convince me to go for dinner to celebrate with my family, but I couldn’t face anyone. I’d just found what was wrong, and I wanted to fix it as soon as I could.

“I spent a week not talking to anyone, holed up in my room. My family thought I was overwhelmed by the competition and the sudden spotlight, and honestly, I partly was. There were articles about me, calling me a prodigy and saying that the world should be excited for my future achievements in taekwondo, and I wanted none of that. I felt like I didn’t even know what parts of me were truly me anymore.

“Until one night I stumbled across a livestream of a sports network. I couldn’t sleep and had nothing to do, so I decided to watch it, and what greeted me was a volleyball game. It made me feel like a kid again, and I realised what it was to feel passionate about something for the first time in my life. I spent the whole night trying to find as much information about it as I could, how to train, the names and terminology, even where I could buy volleyball shoes. Every website was catered towards parents wanting to get their kids to be more active, but I already knew that I was older than the average person looking to start a sport. I didn’t care.

“I made up my mind that night that I was going to go back to school, quit taekwondo completely, and join the volleyball team, and that I was going to work harder than I ever had for taekwondo.

“I learned everything from the hyungs and our sunbaes, and I spent the whole summer practicing more and more. I’m happy now, more than ever, I think. I’m so grateful to have such amazing teammates by my side, and it still feels unreal that in a month we’re going to stand on a court together, the eleven of us. And even if we don’t make it to nationals, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Dongpyo was fully in Yohan’s arms by the end, snuggled up to him like a teddy bear, and everyone was looking at their ace, eyes dripping with sweetness and adoration.

No matter how many times Wooseok heard him tell this story, it always made him feel a strong feeling of respect towards the boy who had given up everything he’d known for a chance to pursue what he dreamed of. He couldn’t help but put this Yohan that he knew now side by side with the one he’d met and admire how much he had grown.

“You’ve worked hard, Yohanie,” Seungwoo said softly, still stroking the boy’s hair, “I’m so happy to have you here with us.”

“It feels right with you,” Hangyul agreed, “And even more right that you’re our ace. You’ve worked so hard and have earned this position. I wouldn’t have anyone but you represent us as our ace.”

“I’m so glad you’re happy now, hyung,” said Hyeongjun, “And the fact that it is with us just makes me even happier. You deserve to be happy and do what you want without letting others influence you.”

Something in his voice when he spoke conveyed relatability, and it made Wooseok wonder if Hyeongjun also had a past he hadn’t shared with them before. Had Yohan opening up made him want to share his as well?

“Is there something you want to share with us, Hyeongjunie?” Eunsang asked. So Wooseok hadn’t been the only one to reach that conclusion.

The first-year in question shook his head frantically and hurriedly told them that he didn’t. But being in the same team for four months had made the boys accustomed to one another and their habits, and they could all tell that this wasn’t the case. Hyeongjun usually replied this frantically after he’d mixed up his words and was backtracking to correct himself or when he’d made a mistake. In this case, he looked like he was regretting what he’d said.

It only confirmed the others’ suspicions, and they worried about why the blocker didn’t want to tell them what had happened. If he was holding back because he didn’t trust them, or, worse, that it was too traumatic for him to bring up. Whichever the case was, they wanted to offer him their love and support to help him get through it, even if he wasn’t ready to speak about it yet.

“You know none of us will judge you for it, Hyeongjun,” Minhee spoke up suddenly, and Wooseok realised that Minhee must know about whatever had happened. It made sense, considering that they’d been friends for the longest time among their team members.

“I just don’t want to take away from Yohan-hyung’s story,” Hyeongjun replied quietly.

“Oh, no, Hyeongjun, don’t think like that,” Yohan said quickly, sitting up a bit so he could crane his neck and face the younger boy, “I shared it because I wanted you to know, not so all the focus would be on me. Please don’t feel like you shouldn’t talk about something you want because of it.”

Despite the ace’s words, Hyeongjun still seemed hesitant. He bit his lip and played with his fingers. No one said anything, giving him the time and space to decide if he wanted to speak to them. Minhee rested a hand on his shoulder reassuringly, which helped the boy become less rigid.

He took a deep breath and said, “I just can understand Yohan-hyung in some aspects. I’ve been playing since I was eight years old, and back then we were all fairly similar, you know, when it came to skills and physical condition.”

Wooseok thought about the kids at the sports academy that he’d started coaching, and he could agree with Hyeongjun, especially since they’d all started learning at roughly the same time, so they were still learning, developing, and growing.

“Learning about positions, I really wanted to be a blocker,” Hyeongjun recounted, “The blockers defend and protect the team, and I thought that was so cool! I wanted to protect my team and let them know that they could rely on me. We got to choose our positions, and I was over the moon, and it was all going well for a few years but… then we all started hitting puberty and getting growth spurts. And all my teammates got taller than me. Our coach started asking me if I still wanted to be a blocker, and my team started poking fun at me, saying I was too short to stop the attacks. I kept saying that I could still jump high, but they didn’t stop, even when I actually proved that I could!

“I started feeling bad about going to training, even though I still loved volleyball. My parents eventually ended up pulling me out of the sports academy I’d been going to because of that. I joined the club at school instead, and the first reaction I got was the same. But then our coach had us jump and mark how high we could reach, and I jumped the highest out of everyone else. I felt so satisfied when everyone was so surprised. They never said anything about me again. But I’m still so amazed at how quick they were to judge me. I’m glad I’d met Minhee by then, he really helped me through it all.”

“I’m very happy you did too, hyung,” said Dohyon, and inched closer to the boy, who was lying down next to him, offering to share his blanket with him. Wooseok internally cooed when Hyeongjun snuggled closer to him and let Dohyon wrap his blanket around them both, even more so when the blocker laid the blanket he’d been using on their maknae’s lap to keep him warm.

“I can’t believe they judged you like that without even knowing your skills,” Junho shook his head, “That’s not fair to you at all. Volleyball isn’t about height, it’s a matter of teamwork and personal abilities.”

“That’s very true, Junho,” Seungyoun said, “While our heights can be helpful, volleyball isn’t about this at all, and it’s a shame that some people can behave this way. Wooseok isn’t the tallest either, but he’s an amazing setter.”

Wooseok scoffed playfully at being used as the example. He was also flattered that his friend had complimented him as a setter, but he didn’t want to say anything while they were discussing something else. He did have confidence in his skills, but truthfully, it was all thanks to the wonderful teams he’d been in. He’d been so close to both of them that they always made sure to help each other and build up everyone’s confidence.

He’d really learned about the importance of team bonding from them, how it didn’t only benefit the team as a whole, but also each individual member of it.

“Actually, I’ve been meaning to say this for some time,” Minhee suddenly said, “But Hyeongjun is the one who encouraged me to start playing volleyball, and he’s been helping me so much since day one, especially now that we’re both blockers. We practice together a lot and he’s so patient and good with me. I’m really thankful for that, and I don’t think I’ve told him until now.”

Hyeongjun’s cheeks had turned deep red at his friend’s words. He was snuggled tight into Dohyon’s blanket, almost covering his face with it, but even then, his smile and sparkling eyes were visible.

“Me too,” Dohyon said from next to him, “Hyeongjun-hyung is always so kind when we’re practicing together. I know I’m still a beginner and have so much to learn, but I’m so grateful for everything he’s done for me. You’ve all treated me so well and you take care of me and I feel so lucky to be in this team.”

“Of course we take care of our maknae,” Dongpyo cooed, “I’m happy we have you on our team too, Dohyon. And Minhee. All of you. It feels like we were meant to be a team together.”

“And like a family,” Hangyul added softly.

None of them could disagree with them.

Wooseok thought about it often, in fact. How easy it had been for them to come together, to bond, to combine their skills and play well like a team. They all felt so close to one another, almost like a family, and their trust in each other was so strong. They knew that relying on their teammates would be just as easy as knowing that they would be there to catch a ball they tossed to them, or save their game before the ball touched their court.

They’d built this trust so quickly. Their chemistry had shown itself early on and they’d been able to interact and joke around together with ease as back as their first week as a team. By now, even those who had been more reserved had opened up, and it felt like reaching the last level in a video game. They’d solved all the puzzles, found all the special artifacts, and now all that was left was defeat the last boss: the tournaments.

And they were going to stand on that court together, the eleven of them, their little family, and do their very best.

“It’s almost midnight,” Eunsang announced, looking up from his phone, “Should we count down for Christmas?”

“Isn’t that a New Year’s thing?” Junho asked.

“Well, I doubt we’ll be able to do this again for New Year’s,” Seungyoun countered, “So we might as well get the whole holiday experience today.”

“True,” Minhee agreed, “I’m spending New Year’s Eve with my family. We’re spending it with my dad too, so I can’t miss it.”

Minhee loved his dad a lot, so much was obvious. He’d mentioned wanting to get into SKY because of him, but from what his teammates had gathered, he wasn’t around too often, so they could understand why spending an occasion as family-oriented as New Year’s would mean a lot to him.

“So, are we going to count down?” Dongpyo asked.

“Sure!” Seungwoo replied, “How long until midnight, Eunsang?”

The spiker in question turned his phone on again to check the precise time, his eyes widening when he did so.

“Three seconds!” he exclaimed surprised.

In a hurry, the eleven boys counted down the remaining seconds, only two by the time they’d started, and then cheered as the clock struck midnight, signalling the beginning of Christmas.

They shared some funny anecdotes and stories from past Christmases with their families, as well as some bags of crisps and popcorn they’d brought along for their sleepover. They’d hoped that since the lights on the school grounds were mostly shut they would be able to see the stars from the gym’s windows, but the night was overcast, and only the pale light from the moon was visible, seeping into the gym and illuminating the pile of boys huddled close.

When they started feeling drowsy in the early hours of the morning, much later than they should have, they decided to pack the empty crisp bags away and go to bed. They blew out the candles they’d lit, not wanting to have a fire going while they were sleeping, and plugged in some fairy lights instead. The gym was so big that stark darkness felt too ominous. Luckily they’d predicted it, and Seungwoo had brought some small fairy lights that hadn’t been used when his family had decorated for Christmas.

The lights twinkled in the dark, making up for the loss of the stars, and one by one the boys fell asleep, holding one another close.

Even though they were all covered by only one blanket and the night was cold, they didn’t feel it. Being close like this was all they needed to stay warm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: Okay, let's write the Christmas chapter  
> My brain: Make it angsty  
> Me: Why?  
> My brain: Just do it
> 
> Despite the angst, I hope you all enjoyed this. Have a wonderful day, stay safe and eat well~~  
> Come chat on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/jinnius_lek) 💖💖


	16. Walking In The Winter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's this fic's first anniversary. I would say happy anniversary, but it's really anything but that. When I posted this story a year ago I was crying so hard I could barely see the screen in front of me. But I also vowed on that day to complete this story, no matter how long it takes and how painful it might get, so here I am. This fic has been something I've wanted to write for so long and has been a comfort to me when I hit low points and think things can't get better. I've loved writing it so much, I have met some lovely people while doing so and it's about some boys who really changed my life and made me incredibly happy, so it will always be special to me. Those of you who are still here reading, despite my inconsistent updates, thank you so much and I love you. I'll work harder to provide you with more chapters and hopefully we can make some happy memories together on January 6th.
> 
> Playlist:  
> SF9 - So Beautiful  
> Yun Ddan Ddan - Walking In The Winter  
> Busker Busker - Love, At First  
> \---  
> Queen - Under Pressure  
> NCT Dream - Candle Light  
> TXT - Ghosting  
> Ateez - One Day At A Time

Jinhyuk’s whistle pierced through the gym’s air causing the six kids on the court to stop playing and look up at their coaches. Wooseok was standing right next to Jinhyuk, watching them attentively. His boyfriend lowered his whistle when he had their attention and said, “Good job today! It’s time to go home now, so let’s pack up and tidy up the gym for the next team who will use it.”

The boys all agreed enthusiastically, Jewon picking up the ball they’d been playing with and running to the basket to put it in its place, standing on his tiptoes to reach it while trying not to knock any of the other balls over. Wooseok watched him struggle for a few seconds before going to his side and picking him up so he could reach higher. Jewon’s satisfied smile as he placed it in a vacant spot was worth everything.

“Thank you, hyung,” he said after being put down, smiling widely and running back to the rest of his teammates who had already put away the net (with Jinhyuk’s help) and were forming a line so they could walk to the locker rooms peacefully, holding their water bottles that they’d brought on the court with them.

Jewon picked up his Spongebob themed bottle and stood at the end of the line, waiting patiently.

“Wooseok, lead the way,” Jinhyuk encouraged his boyfriend, standing in front of the boys and gesturing for him to stand ahead of him.

Wooseok smiled and joined them. He checked everyone was ready and hadn’t forgotten anything, and began the short trek to the locker room. The boys were so good and always followed them well. In the time he’d been teaching they hadn’t had any issues with them wandering off or not staying in line, something he was very proud of and definitely flaunted to the rest of the staff, despite Jinhyuk’s embarrassed attempts at making him shut up.

The kids took their bags and changed into their proper shoes before following their coaches out the locker room and to the academy’s entrance where their parents were waiting to pick them up.

“Good evening and happy new year, everyone!” Jinhyuk said as he opened the door for them.

“Happy new year, hyungs!” the boys cheered as they made their way to their respective parents, all of them eager to see them and asking about their lesson.

Wooseok and Jinhyuk watched them for a bit before turning around and going back into the training area to finish tidying up the court and then take their own belongings and head home. January was still in its early days, but it was very cold outside, not to mention the sun setting a lot sooner than it usually did, so hanging out at the academy after the turtles had left had become inconvenient. Wooseok missed being able to stick around to talk with his boyfriend while unwinding and stretching after their class. His presence always helped him when he was low on energy, and that was very common after the lessons.

He busied himself with cleaning up the court and tried not to dwell on it too much and end up daydreaming for hours. He had lots to do when he got home, so it was best not to get distracted.

As Jinhyuk was so close it was nearly impossible to ignore him and the way he made him feel.

He’d had so long to come to terms with the realisation of what he was feeling, and he really understood it now. He couldn’t help but notice all the small things that were different compared to the time when they’d just met, even when they’d started dating. Having a name for them had been strange at first, admitting that name even more so, but he’d eventually realised that they had grown too much for him to even think of denying.

He was scared, of course, he was, he’d never been in love before, never even been in another relationship, but at the same time everything felt right, as if all the pieces of a puzzle were falling into place, without him even needing to position them or wonder where they went. Everything was happening naturally and creating a picture so beautiful he wouldn’t have it any other way.

He wouldn’t have anyone other than Jinhyuk be his first love.

“You’ve helped the kids a lot,” Jinhyuk spoke up suddenly.

Wooseok almost dropped his broom in surprise and turned around to look at his boyfriend. “You think so?” he asked.

“Of course,” Jinhyuk nodded, “You weren’t here before so you don’t know how rough things were for a while. The boys are really comfortable around you and that’s helping them loosen up a lot. Being one person in charge of everything is a big burden, you don’t have all the time you would like to focus on everyone individually. I’m glad you’re here.”

Wooseok smiled at him, walking over to him so he could lean his head on the taller boy’s shoulder, dragging the broom behind him. “I’m glad I’m here too,” he said, “Especially knowing I’ve been helpful.”

“The biggest help I could have asked for,” Jinhyuk replied, and nuzzled his hair with his nose.

Wooseok knew that if they weren’t in such a visible area he would have kissed him, had memorised the tone of his voice before he did so, and the loss made him sigh disappointed. Being professional was important, but his love had made him more desperate than he would like to admit.

“Do you think we could go for a walk after we leave?” he asked, looking up into his boyfriend’s dark eyes.

The boy hummed in response. “That would be nice,” he said, “I would like that.”

His words brought a smile to Wooseok’s face, and he detached himself from the other so he could finish cleaning up. Jinhyuk chuckled at him.

They were almost done when the door to the court opened and one of the receptionists, Miss Park (or simply Jiyoung as she always insisted Wooseok call her), peeked inside, her eyes scanning the room until they landed on the two boys.

“Boys, could I have a word?” she asked.

Confused, the boys approached her to see what she wanted to tell them.

“Is everything okay?” Jinhyuk asked.

“There’s a small situation,” Jiyoung replied, “Jinwoo’s mum got held up at work and doesn’t know what time she can pick him up. She said he has a key for their home, but she doesn’t really want him walking there alone. I was wondering if you two could escort him back after finishing up here if his mum hasn’t arrived yet.”

Wooseok couldn’t help but coo internally. He had grown so incredibly fond of the six boys he was coaching, but while he would never admit it, little Jinwoo had claimed a part of his heart all for himself, with his shy but enthusiastic demeanour, passion for volleyball, adorable nature and admiration towards Jinhyuk. It had become somewhat of an inside joke among the academy staff to call the boy his and Jinhyuk’s son, and Wooseok beamed every time he heard it.

“Of course,” he said, smiling, “We would love to.”

“Thank you, boys,” Jiyoung responded brightly, “Do you mind if I let him in so he doesn’t have to wait outside on his own?”

Both boys had hurriedly responded that they didn’t at all, and soon Jinwoo also made his way through the door, carrying his fluffy panda backpack that he used in lieu of a gym bag and in his sky blue padded coat, zipped all the way up his neck. His eyes sparkled as he shuffled into the court and walked up to his coaches.

“Be good, Jinwoo,” Jiyoung said to him, “Don’t bother your hyungs while they’re working.”

“Okay,” the boy assured her brightly, walking over to a spot a little on the side of the court, taking off his backpack and sitting down cross-legged, watching them eagerly.

Jiyoung waved goodbye before leaving, closing the door behind her.

“We’ll be done in a minute, Jinwoo,” Jinhyuk promised the young boy who was watching them.

Jinwoo nodded, smiling brightly, in response.

He didn’t take his eyes off them while they worked, his gaze following them as they moved around the room. Wooseok was impressed at the way he could focus so much on both of them at the same time, but then again the boy was a volleyball player, knowing how to read a big group of people as well as each of them individually at the same time, even at his young age.

He and Jinhyuk finished a lot sooner than they would have if Jinwoo hadn’t been there. He was certain that he was speaking for both of them when he thought that it was because they had liked the idea of spending time with the boy and were hoping they could get to do that as soon as possible.

Putting away their cleaning supplies before leaving the academy was always a nice feeling, but this time it felt exceptionally exciting. They closed the door to the storage room and went back to the court, finding Jinwoo right where they’d left him, sitting down and observing the room.

“Are you ready to go, Jinwoo?” Wooseok asked him, getting his attention.

The boy turned around and nodded. He quickly got to his feet and slung his backpack over his shoulders again before announcing, “Ready!”

“Let’s get you home then,” Jinhyuk said brightly, motioning for him to come close to him, which Jinwoo did immediately.

The three of them left the room, saying goodbye to the receptionists and making sure that Jinwoo’s mum wasn’t on the way to collect him before leaving the academy and stepping into the winter air. Wooseok shivered slightly, burrowing into his jacket and scarf and checking on both his boyfriend and their charge to see how they were doing. They seemed to be adjusting to the change in temperature, and he felt himself relax as well.

Jinhyuk held his hand out in Jinwoo’s direction, as an offering for the boy to take if he wanted while they walked. Wooseok already knew he was going to take it before Jinhyuk’s hand had been completely outstretched. Jinwoo’s small hand held onto his boyfriend’s one tightly, the boy looking so happy doing so and Jinhyuk looking down at him fondly with an almost fatherly gaze that Wooseok couldn’t help smiling while watching them.

Jiyoung had given them Jinwoo’s address, so they relied on Maps to get to their destination, although Jinwoo also helped if they ever got too close to getting lost. He probably could have led them the whole way, but his hyungs didn’t want to rest so much responsibility on him.

The whole way, Jinwoo talked without stopping. He mentioned events from that day’s training from his own perspective, his school year, his homework that he even consulted Jinhyuk and Wooseok about, some funny stories about both his friends from school and his teammates, and neither of the other two boys even entertained the idea of asking him to stop. They were so content just listening to the boy. Wooseok didn’t have any younger siblings or cousins, but watching Jinwoo and listening to him talk so animatedly about even the most mundane things made him feel the same way he guessed people who did felt. He could listen to the story of Eugene’s younger brother smashing his birthday cake by accident all day.

“Hyungs,” Jinwoo interrupted his story and looked up at them, interchanging between each of them, “If I have a birthday party will you come?”

Normally, Wooseok would have a lot of things he would rather do than spend three hours at a six-year-old’s party with other six-year-olds making a mess and dancing to Baby Shark, but make the six-year-old Jinwoo and it was a whole other story.

“Of course we would!” he replied, immediately.

“Tell us the date and we’ll be there!” Jinhyuk agreed.

Jinwoo jumped up and down happily causing Jinhyuk’s arm to move with him. “I’ll introduce you to all my friends,” he said, “And prove that I have the coolest hyungs.”

“Wow, Jinwoo, I don’t think we deserve that title,” Jinhyuk said theatrically, shaking his head dramatically.

Wooseok wanted to argue that _yes_ , they did, but their charge beat him to it.

“You do!” he exclaimed, “You’re so awesome and help me play so much better. And you’re so nice. Jewon says that his older brother is so mean to him, but you’re not.”

Wooseok’s brain short-circuited at the fact that he’d just been compared to an older brother. Not just a boy who was older than Jewon, but his actual, real, physical, from the same parents older brother.

The knowledge that Jinwoo viewed him in a similar way to what he did made him feel so warm that he almost forgot about the biting winter cold around him.

A simple glance at Jinhyuk told him that the other felt the exact same way.

A mischievous smile graced Jinhyuk’s features however, and he asked, “But I’m the cooler one, right?”

“Yah!” Wooseok exclaimed.

Jinwoo giggled. “I can’t say,” he replied.

“Can you whisper it to me?” Jinhyuk asked, stopping and crouching down so they were at the same level.

Jinwoo thought about it for a moment before leaning in and whispering something in Jinhyuk’s ear while Wooseok watched them, twitching.

Jinhyuk gasped and nodded with an exaggerated sombre expression at what the boy told him before standing back up. “Let’s go,” he said and started walking again.

“No, you’re going to tell me what he said,” Wooseok countered.

“I can’t, it’s a secret,” his boyfriend responded, to the amusement of the young boy they were accompanying.

Wooseok huffed. “I’ll crack you and make you tell one way or another, just you wait,” he said, trying his best to sound threatening.

“Oh no, Jinwoo, Wooseok-hyung is being mean! Protect me!” Jinhyuk cried and cowered away from him.

Jinwoo merely laughed and called them silly, which Wooseok could agree with; Jinhyuk was being very silly indeed.

Their walk continued for a little longer until they arrived at a friendly looking neighbourhood. Jinwoo immediately seemed familiar with it, so the boys knew that they’d brought him to the right place. All that was left now was to find his building and end their little excursion. Wooseok felt nostalgic already.

Jinwoo led the way to a five-storey apartment complex with a brown door. Just as they were approaching the entrance, a car pulled up in the driveway. The young boy’s reaction was enough to indicate that it was his mother who had just arrived home. The woman stepped out of her car and approached them, but before she’d gotten a word out, Jinwoo had run up to her, hugging her tightly and gesturing towards the two boys.

“Mum, these are my volleyball hyungs!” he chirped.

His mother’s eyes instantly lit up with recognition. “Ah, the famous Jinhyuk and Wooseok,” she said, smiling, “Jinwoo talks about you two a lot.”

Wooseok felt his cheeks heat up at being recognised by someone he hadn’t even met before. He was flattered that she remembered them from what Jinwoo had told her. Even more so that the boy had said anything about him at all.

His mother thanked them both for bringing him home and they reassured her that it was no trouble and that they’d thoroughly enjoyed their walk and conversations. It was hard to leave, but Jinwoo gave them both a hug goodbye with the promise to see them again for their next training session and to invite them to his birthday party, that his mother was just hearing about for the first time by the looks of it.

“So, home for us too now?” Wooseok asked Jinhyuk after the door had closed behind their student and his mother.

“I was under the impression that I’d promised you a romantic walk on our own,” his boyfriend responded.

Red dusted Wooseok’s cheeks for the second time that day at the knowledge that he had remembered that.

He put his hands in his pockets to shield them from the cold while they walked away from the neighbourhood. He entertained the idea of holding hands with Jinhyuk, but that nagging voice in his head stopped him, reminding him of the plethora of people around them.

He remembered the night in Itaewon when he’d held Jinhyuk’s hand and kissed him without any care for the ones around and wished he would have that much courage and confidence again someday.

Absentmindedly, they found themselves by a small bridge overseeing a ravine. It wasn’t Han River, but perhaps a stream originating from it that had found its way to their part of Seoul. The bridge itself had an old-fashioned design and created a pretty and romantic scenery.

How cliché that they’d ended up there of all places, but Wooseok couldn’t care less about clichés. He looked at the boy he was with, and thought that he was more beautiful than any scenery and completed every one perfectly like the central piece of a painting.

He leaned over the bridge, resting his arms on it, and looking down at the water. Most trees had already lost their leaves, but some crispy brown and orange flakes still fell or were blown around by the wind until they landed in the river and were carried away by the current. It was fascinating to watch, how easily the water pulled them with it as soon as they touched it, how gracefully they fell into it. People always called winter the season of death, but there was so much life during it that went unnoticed.

Jinhyuk copied his position next to him, their arms touching. “I wonder if it will snow this year,” he mused.

“I hope not,” Wooseok replied, “Or at least not until tournaments are over. The kids are going to drag me into so many snowball fights my fingers will go numb if it does.”

“That won’t do,” Jinhyuk chuckled, “We should keep these hands warm.”

He moved his hand so he could lay it over Wooseok’s, but, reading him, the setter rearranged his stance so his hand would land on the wood of the bridge instead. His reaction had been so quick that he hadn’t even thought about it, and when he realised what he’d done his heart dropped. Had it gotten this bad again that even the slightest of skinship was triggering this reaction from him?

Trying not to think about it, he turned around so he could look at Jinhyuk properly, and noticed that he hadn’t zipped his jacket all the way up. “Are you trying to catch a cold?” he scolded him and took the zipper in his hand, pulling it up to his chin, “Haven’t your parents taught you anything?”

“Slipped my mind,” the spiker responded, “I’ll try to remember just for you.”

“Don’t be greasy when we’re talking about your health,” Wooseok sighed, both amused and concerned. He couldn’t believe his boyfriend sometimes.

His hands went to the yellow scarf around his neck. He only thought about it for a moment before loosening and unfurling it and then wrapping it around Jinhyuk’s neck instead, catching him by surprise. He didn’t let him stop him until he was done.

“Don’t get sick, okay?” he said.

“Don’t you want this back?” Jinhyuk asked, pointing at the scarf.

“Yellow suits you,” Wooseok said, “You can keep it.”

Jinhyuk smiled brightly.

Wooseok gulped. That smile was enough to tip him over the edge. He might as well have been plunged into the ravine beneath them. It wasn’t cold, though. It was warm, like a hot drink or a hot water bottle, comforting, and soft like a fluffy blanket around his shoulders on a chilly night. He could get lost in it and not want to find his way back.

It would be so easy, he thought, to just let go and allow those three words to escape. Right there, on top of the small wooden bridge with the sound of rushing water and rustling leaves around them, to utter that phrase that wouldn’t leave his mind, that had become one with Jinhyuk’s existence. Looking up into the face of the boy he’d come to feel so much about, taking his hand in his, finally forgetting about who might see, he could say what he was feeling and let there be no secrets among them anymore.

But he wasn’t brave enough to do that.

“It’s getting late,” he said instead, “We should head back.”

Jinhyuk nodded, playing with the edges of the scarf as he did so.

\---

Going back to school after Christmas break was always a challenge. Getting enough sleep over the holidays was traded for early mornings and hurried preparations for school, snoozing under the covers for cold walks, peace and quiet for the hustle and bustle of crowded hallways and loud classrooms and, to top it all off, carefree and enjoyable days had given way to tests and endless revision.

Ever since Wooseok had started school, teachers had used the holidays as an opportunity to arrange tests that covered the entirety of what they’d taught their students since the beginning of the school year. On one hand, he couldn’t blame them, they were ideal circumstances and, using himself as an example, he knew that most of his classmates wouldn’t have much planned for the break other than catching up on lost sleep and consuming copious amounts of Christmas themed pastries. On the other hand, however, he wanted to revolt because it felt so unfair of them to demand so much from their students who had already been working hard for months and deprive them of this short period of rest.

Still, he made an effort every year to try and dedicate some time each day to revision and studying so the load of work wouldn’t pile up and suffocate him by the time he went back to school.

And each and every year he’d failed to do so.

A little over a week into his return from school he barely had time to swallow down a mouthful of rice during recess before opening his textbooks so he could check everything one last time before the bell rang and he would have to go to another test.

“I’m convinced you’re just revising for the first time now,” Minhee said, his outstretched arm that was reaching for Wooseok’s kimbap rolls covering part of his book and earning him a slap so he would move it away.

“Accusing me of slacking off _and_ trying to steal my food,” the setter said without looking up, “Minhee, are you sure you don’t have a death wish?”

The blocker rolled his eyes in response and ate some of his own food.

“I want it to be Christmas again,” Dongpyo whined, leaning his chin onto Seungwoo’s shoulder and studying the book the leader was reading.

“But tournaments are only a few weeks away,” Yohan countered, “I thought you were excited for them.”

“I am,” Dongpyo agreed, “But the first few days back at school are stressful.”

“Days?” Seungyoun wheezed, “Dongpyo, I’m so happy only the first _days_ are hard for you.”

As if on cue, the bell ending recess rang, and automatically, the third-years sprang to their feet as if they’d been stung and packed up their books and lunchboxes, running to their class without even putting them in their bags with their teammates’ yells of good luck wishes in the background.

Wooseok couldn’t blame Dongpyo for wanting to return to the holidays, even if that meant that the winter tournament would be further away again. He set foot in school every day dreading it, and only clinging onto the relief that at the end of the day he would go to volleyball practice.

Dongwook had started increasing their training as tournaments approached, and especially after they’d entered the month of January. The winter tournaments always took place around the middle of January, and the official dates had been announced near the end of December. To Wooseok, though, it hadn’t felt real until they’d gone back to school and the remaining days until then had the number 1 as their first digit.

It felt surreal. The fact that they were going to the winter tournaments with Lee Dongwook as their coach had suddenly hit all of them once again, and they’d received messages from their former teammates who were letting them know that they were going to attend so they could cheer for them, since Cheondae didn’t have a cheer team that accompanied the volleyball team and they wanted them to feel supported.

It had warmed Wooseok’s heart, but also filled him with a small bit of dread. All of these people were going to be standing by his side, either as his teammates, coach, family, or supportive friends, and the only way he could ever repay them for it would be by earning something as tribute to his hard work. Something his team immediately depended on him to achieve.

He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but being his team’s “secret weapon” was quite burdensome. His spiking abilities hadn’t been that good to begin with, and he hadn’t improved much since they’d devised the plan either. They _had_ pulled the move off a few times, but Dongwook had told them that they still had to work on it more for it to come off as a complete surprise.

They’d decided on it too close to the tournament, Wooseok couldn’t help but think, and now they didn’t have enough time to perfect this strategy that could give them the victory they craved so much. If they needed it during a game and Wooseok wasn’t ready to do it, the points they lost, and even their loss, would be on him and his inability to improve.

Honestly, it wasn’t as bad as his mind was making him think. Two months ago he wasn’t sure if he would have been able to even get a spike over the net, and now he could do that with much more ease than before. But the return to school and the reminder of all that pressure was taking its toll on him and making him too pessimistic. He hoped that he would go back to normal when the intense period of tests and revision was over. Besides, they weren’t the only sports team that had tournaments coming up, all of them were looking a lot more tired from training than they usually did, and their teachers may not care about the volleyball team, but they did about the others, so he hoped that they would lay off them soon.

Their lack of faith made him both disappointed and determined.

It didn’t matter that they didn’t care about the volleyball team yet, he would make them be unable to ever forget them.

For now, though, he had to focus on his algebra test, or else he was going to turn in a test so bad his teacher would be unable to ever forget it.

School days seemed to be going by incredibly fast and yet extremely slowly at the same time. It was strange how suddenly everyone became one and the same. People who were usually talkative would become as reserved as those who were known to be quiet, and even the bullies tended to take a break from tormenting innocent students, because they were all trying to get through the first chaotic weeks of adjustment and examinations. It could definitely come across as scary as well, how suddenly everyone went numb to everything that wasn’t schoolwork. Wooseok couldn’t wait to leave that part of school behind him.

One thing he _was_ grateful for amongst all this, however, was how gossip had momentarily died down. He’d grown so tired of it that walking through the hallways in complete silence without anyone saying anything was a breath of fresh air for him. Ordinarily, he would have his friends with him who would jump in to protect him if need be, despite him being capable of handling people on his own, but now he didn’t need to take any precautions, every student just stuck to their own business. He hoped the passage from one semester to the other would bring up some other hot topic as well and let his remain in the past.

He couldn’t tell how his test had gone when it was finally over. He’d definitely answered all the questions, so he hoped that would count in his favour. He could hear Seungwoo and Seungyoun discuss their answers with some of their other classmates, Seungwoo even going as far as to ask the top students in their class about theirs, which could only mean that he was feeling confident with his. Wooseok had shared the same answers with him for some questions, so he hoped that was the case.

After the adrenaline had worn off, though, all he’d wanted was to sleep through the rest of the day and wake up for volleyball practice. He proposed the idea to the leader who had mentioned the broom closet in their gym and played with the gym keys in his pocket, but ultimately, they’d agreed to not skip their classes and just go to bed early. They didn’t want to get into any unnecessary trouble that could hinder them from going to the tournaments with their team so close to the dates.

The boy had had to wake up Kang Seungsik during their next class, however, after his seatmate had fallen asleep and their teacher had tried calling on him. It had provided Wooseok some entertainment, he couldn’t deny that.

He and Seungyoun even joked about it with the rest of their teammates as they got changed in the gym a few hours later and waited for Dongwook.

“Seungwoo-hyung is adopting children left and right,” Wooseok said, “First it was us, then all of you, now Seungsik-hyung.”

“Stop it, Seungsik isn’t my child,” the leader scolded him, slapping his shoulder and shaking his head.

“Hello, everyone, are you ready?” Dongwook’s voice interrupted them as the coach stepped into the gym, greeting the team with a smile. He deposited his bag on a bench and clapped his hands once in excitement. If he hadn’t had everyone’s attention already, he definitely would have gotten it then.

He seemed excited, Wooseok noticed, more excited than he’d seen their coach since December when the tournaments started approaching. He only hoped that it was due to him having something good to tell them or planned, and not another gruelling round of diving drills like he’d done last week. Wooseok had thought his chest was going to be numb forever after that experience.

“All ready!” Hyeongjun said happily, bouncing on his heels and swinging his arms back and forth.

“Good!” Dongwook said, “But I hope you don’t have too much pent-up energy right now. I have something we have to do before we get to training.”

Everyone’s surprise was evident. Hangyul’s eyebrows flew up past his hairline and Wooseok stifled a laugh. A flustered and surprised Hangyul was always funny to be around.

“What are we going to do?” Junho asked.

“Well,” Dongwook began, “Since the winter tournament starts in less than two weeks, we have to take care of some last things. Starting with your uniforms.”

Wooseok hadn’t forgotten about that, of course, but he’d thought they were going to sort that out closer to the first day of the tournament like they’d done in the previous years. Then again, it had just been them those times, and now they had Dongwook who had a different way of doing things and didn’t know how their past teams had handled everything. Their coach had fit in with the team so well that Wooseok often forgot about that.

“So we’re going to get our numbers?” Eunsang asked, eyes glowing.

“Yes, and take your uniform home too,” Dongwook told him, and the boy beamed, “Do you have them stored somewhere?”

All five third and second-years moved simultaneously to go and fetch the clothes, resulting in some clutter on the way, before deciding that five people were far too many for the task. They ushered one another back to the rest of the team, each one wanting to be one of the ones who would bring the uniforms. They eventually backed down and allowed Seungyoun and Hangyul to carry out the deed. The two boys brought the hangers from the storage room, delighted, and placed them all on the floor as Dongwook indicated. The coach then encouraged everyone to take a seat so they wouldn’t get tired standing up.

There were three piles on the floor, one of shorts, one of blue jerseys with white accents and one of white jerseys with blue accents. Their standard uniform consisted of the blue shirts, but there was always the possibility of another school’s team also using blue as their primary colour, in which case they would have to change into the white ones so the referee would be able to tell the two teams apart. And, of course, Dongpyo, the libero, was going to primarily use the white shirt so the referee could tell that he was the libero and allow him to enter and leave the court freely during the game.

From where he was sitting, Wooseok could see his jersey, the number 2 peaking out from underneath the number 1 jersey that had been placed on top of it messily. He hoped he would get to wear that number on his back yet again that year. He’d grown attached to it after having it for two years.

“Let’s start with the easy one,” Dongwook said, all of them understanding what he meant before he even continued his sentence, “Number 1: Han Seungwoo.”

They all knew that Seungwoo was going to be assigned the number 1, being the leader. Upon hearing his name, the blocker stood up and walked up to the pile of uniforms, picking up the jerseys and shorts on the top, bowing to their coach as he did so and then taking his seat on the ground again. Wooseok watched as his friend traced the number on the jersey with his fingers, face stoic.

“Number 2,” Dongwook’s voice and his number being called caused him to look up quickly like a meerkat, “Kim Wooseok.”

The setter rose to his feet and made his way to the front, avoiding Junho’s spread out legs as he did so. He took the jersey he’d been looking at first, holding it close to him and feeling the familiar fabric beneath his fingers. He picked up the respective white one as well and his shorts and returned to his seat.

Seungyoun was appointed the number 3, the same one he’d also been using for the past year, and Wooseok, as well as the rest of the older boys on the team he was sure, beamed with pride as they watched Yohan accept the number 4, the one usually reserved for a team’s ace. He even saw Dongwook look at him fondly. The boy clutched the shirts with the number as if they were the most precious treasures to him.

“Number 5: Kang Minhee,” Dongwook called.

Minhee seemed surprised to have been called so soon. He looked like he was on the way to receive an award as he walked to the front. Hyeongjun commented that he was officially accepting his position as a volleyball player in this way, and it made the spiker smile even wider. Even when he was back in his seat, Wooseok could see him holding the blue jersey up against himself as if trying to see what it would look like on him, and smiled fondly before turning away so he wouldn’t get caught and cause the boy to be embarrassed.

Dongpyo was called next, skipping to the three piles to take his uniform. Dohyon tapped Wooseok’s shoulder as Dongpyo went to the white jerseys first, unlike the rest of their teammates. “Why does Dongpyo-hyung have to wear white?” the maknae whispered.

“It’s because the libero can be switched with another player as many times as they want in a set,” the setter explained, “Only 12 substitutions of players are allowed during a set, but liberos are the exception of that rule. The different colour is so the referee won’t think we’re cheating by switching more than that.”

Dohyon nodded as he took in the information. “Thank you, hyung,” he said sweetly, and Wooseok ruffled his hair.

Hangyul was appointed the number 7 and on his way to take his uniform tripped over the hazard that was Junho sitting in positions that were comfortable instead of practical, but sustained no injuries luckily. He’d only just changed position, it would be a shame to lose him mere days before the tournament. Immediately after, the maknae’s turn came as well. The entire team cheered for their youngest member as Dongwook handed him his number 8 uniform.

It seemed like even the coach had taken to spoiling Dohyon.

Dongwook called for Junho afterwards. The spiker had a spring in his steps as he walked to the clothes and collected his respective ones, and then sat down next to Yohan where the two friends proceeded to admire each other’s uniforms and compare the designs.

“And our last two,” Dongwook said, “Number 10: Lee Eunsang and number 11: Song Hyeongjun.”

The two first-years went to the front together. They gave one another their uniform so it could feel more special for them. They both seemed radiant, glowing almost, as they sat back down with their clothes, the last articles of clothing that had remained.

“So that’s everyone sorted,” their coach announced, “I have a proposal to make. How about we take these for a spin since everyone has their number now?”

All eleven boys’ faces lit up at the thought, and they pulled off their training shirts so they could switch them for their jerseys. The last time Wooseok had worn his uniform had been when they’d welcomed the first-years into the team, and it had only been so they could make their then pathetic little team more appealing. Here he was now, wearing it again days before their next tournament. He smoothed the fabric over his chest and felt around his back to where he knew his number was.

It may not be the number 1, and he wasn’t the star of the show, not at all, but he’d fallen in love with the number 2 and he was going to carry his team to victory. He swore it.

After a round of stretching, they got into formation so they could start their practice game. Dongwook had assigned the teams based on the formations they’d worked on for the tournaments. Wooseok had Seungwoo, Yohan, Seungyoun, Dohyon and Dongpyo on his team; the leader, the ace, a powerful spiker, the libero and the one who would toss to him if they had to use their secret weapon. They’d reached that decision after multiple test games. Dohyon had proved himself to be very good at faking and misleading the opposing team when he was about to toss, which was exactly what they needed for their plan.

Junho from the opposite team was given the ball to serve first. He bounced it a few times while the players in the backcourt of Wooseok’s team’s side took their defence positions, waiting for the ball. Junho held the ball up and served.

The ball flew over the net, but Seungwoo shouted, “Out!” quickly so his team would avoid it. True to his word, the ball crashed down a little outside the court. Dongwook blew his whistle and added a point to Wooseok’s team.

“Good call, hyung,” Seungyoun complimented their leader as he was given the ball to serve next.

His eyebrows scrunched up as he held it up, and Wooseok had been on a team with him for long enough to be able to read him. He was going to go for a jump serve.

He was proven correct when the spiker jumped as he threw the ball into the air before jumping and hitting it. It sailed through the air and into the other team’s side of the court. “Mine!” Hyeongjun called out, taking the receive position while his eyes followed the ball. It fell right into his arms and flew up again.

“Nice receive, Hyeongjunie,” Hangyul said. He followed the ball and tossed it to Eunsang. The spiker hit it hard and sent it over the net, where it crashed on Dongpyo’s waiting receive.

Wooseok followed the ball and tossed it to Yohan. Seungyoun and Seungwoo jumped up as well as decoys. Their timing confused the other team’s blockers who aimed to block the two third-years and lowered down when Yohan was at the highest point of his jump. He hit the ball at the perfect point Wooseok had calculated when he’d sent the toss, and it landed in the court just as planned.

“Nice!” Wooseok exclaimed, giving the ace a high five when they were sure they’d gotten the point.

“Seungwoo, Seungyoun, nice fakes,” Dongwook commented.

The two mentioned boys bowed in thanks.

Minhee rolled the ball into the other side of the court so Seungyoun could serve again. Like before, he did a jump serve that successfully passed over the net. Junho received it. Minhee ran after it with his arms partially raised above his head so he could toss when it arrived. To who that would be remained to be seen though. He had three great spikers on his team, all of them capable of executing a good attack.

Wooseok and his teammates in the front of the formation grouped together and prepared to detect the indication of who the ball was going to go to so they could jump up and block him. All three spikers of the opposite team jumped up in preparation, and the defining moment was closer than ever.

“Hyung!” Minhee called as he tossed the ball, and although it was a definite clue that he was addressing Hangyul, the three boys on the other team had not been prepared for the next turn of events at all.

With three people blocking him, Hangyul hit the ball with the tips of his fingers, sending it over their heads and into their court. It hit the ground right as Dohyon slid across the floor to reach it, arm outstretched.

Dongwook blew his whistle and gave the team their first point of the practice game. “Great feint, Hangyul,” he complimented the second-year, “Very clever. I knew we would benefit from having you as a spiker.”

“Thank you, hyung,” the boy replied.

The score was now 2-1 in Wooseok’s team’s favour. He didn’t let himself relax though. He knew his teammates well, so he knew that they could still turn it around when they least expected it.

And he was right. Twenty minutes later both teams were tied at 19-19. All one of them had to do was make the break point and then make sure they maintained their good game to win the set. His team had just earned a point, meaning one of them was going to be the one to serve.

He moved in rotation as Yohan went to the back so he could spike. The ace bounced the ball, face set in determination. He raised the ball, tossed it into the air and hit it. It went over the net and into the opposite team’s side of the court. Hangyul received it and sent it in Hyeongjun’s direction. The boy tossed it to Eunsang who spiked. It was a well-timed one, albeit a little short, which made it just right for Seungwoo to toss it to Seungyoun at the frontcourt. Their move was easily read by their opponents, however, and Minhee blocked it, sending the ball back into the side where it came from, where it would have landed on the ground if Dongpyo hadn’t hurriedly saved it with his foot, giving them another chance at earning the break point.

Wooseok saw it, then, out of the corner of his eye. For a brief moment, Seungwoo put his hand behind his back, his fingers in a peace sign. That peace sign was their signal for the secret weapon. They’d decided on it during a team meeting, the two fingers symbolising Wooseok’s previous (and now current as well) jersey number. It was only to be called in moments of emergency, and this definitely seemed like one. Judging by how Dohyon moved to the front more, pretending to do so to save the ball from where it had flown up, only confirmed it for Wooseok and told him that the maknae had also seen the signal.

Seungwoo smoothly received the ball and sent it right in Dohyon’s direction. The boy raised his arms in the toss position, and Wooseok and Seungyoun moved at the same time, rushing towards the same spot. Wooseok strayed a bit further from him and they both jumped right as Dohyon made contact with the ball and sent it in their direction.

Minhee and Junho flocked in Seungyoun’s direction, jumping to block him and eyes widening in surprise when the ball soared past him and in the perfect position for Wooseok’s raised arm could hit it, his spike bouncing off his hand and crashing in an unguarded part of the court that he’d been aiming for.

Dongwook blew his whistle and added the point to Wooseok’s team. 20-19. They’d made the break point.

The coach blew it a second time when he saw Wooseok’s teammates begin to approach him so they could compliment his flawless attack. “Finish the set first,” he instructed, “We’ll talk after it’s over.”

“Come on, we’ve got this!” Wooseok said to strengthen his teammates, although they didn’t need it. Seeing their plan go so well was more than enough to give them the energy to score the one remaining point they needed to win the set.

It wasn’t long before one of Seungyoun’s spikes earned them the point they needed and Dongwook’s whistle rang for longer, signalling the end of the set.

Almost immediately, like a chain reaction, all ten boys screamed with joy and ran to Wooseok, hugging, playfully hitting and shaking him. Wooseok felt like a doll being handled by a very clumsy child, but he was filled with such pride that he couldn’t find it in himself to stop them.

“Hyung, that was amazing!” Eunsang cheered.

“We didn’t even think it would go to you!” Junho added, leaning on the setter’s shoulders and jumping up and down.

“It was better than anything I’d imagined!” Hangyul clapped.

“Let him breathe, kids,” Dongwook said with a smile. It was useless, but he sent Wooseok a thumbs up and a wink from outside the group of smothering boys.

Wooseok felt nothing but joy. Pure bliss enveloped him just like his teammates. He’d done that, he’d helped them win the set. He hadn’t messed up. He’d even been complimented by his coach who never held back and always pointed out everything, even small details, that weren’t perfect. But he’d gotten none of that, only overwhelming support and compliments.

Wooseok thought that he could easily do this again, if it made his teammates this happy. He would do his best and earn them another victory like this one.

Dongwook had known what he’d been doing when he’d asked for the set to end before they could have their affectionate time together. Wooseok had been clung onto by ten people for at least five minutes, and they refused to let go even after all that time.

“I’m so happy,” Dongpyo spoke suddenly, “We’re all ready now, to hit the tournaments.”

Wooseok’s arms were currently immobile, but had he been able to move them he would have ruffled his hair for sure.

“Not quite,” Dongwook said, causing them to turn in his direction, “There’s one more thing to take care of.”

“Our team name!” Yohan exclaimed.

Dongwook nodded.

“What should it be?” Hyeongjun asked.

“Something good,” said Minhee, “When we win nationals and the newspapers have our team name on them, we’ll regret it if we’d chosen something lame.”

Wooseok noticed the ‘when’ that had replaced the ‘if’ they’d always used when talking about nationals.

“Not the blue butterflies or the blue jays, please!” Seungyoun begged, “These are always options because of the blue and they’re the cringiest names I’ve ever heard.”

“But blue butterflies is cute,” Dohyon said sadly.

“And let’s not try to play it too cool either,” Hangyul added, “One year we went against a team named the Vipers. This isn’t Riverdale.”

Wooseok snickered, as did some of their other teammates.

The pressure around him began to loosen as all of them thought of names that would be best suited for them.

“Dongwook-hyung, do you have any ideas?” Junho asked their coach.

“Junho, the last team I was in was called South Korea men's national volleyball team,” Dongwook replied, “I’m not really creative.”

“What do you think of Shadow?” Hangyul asked, “As in, we’re not from a powerhouse school or a famous team, so we’re dark and mysterious.”

“Weren’t you the one who sad to not be pretentiously cool?” Wooseok raised an eyebrow at him.

“Hey!” the spiker protested.

“What about X1?” Eunsang spoke up in the midst of their short brawl.

All eleven other people in the gym looked at him. The boy faced them shyly, trying to find the courage to explain his idea more.

“Well,” he said, “The number 10 is X in roman numerals. And 10 plus 1 equals the eleven of us, so X plus one. X1. It could also mean ‘times one’, so a team like us can only exist once.”

“In roman numerals X also means an unidentified person, an unknown,” Dongwook added from where he was standing, looking like he was thinking, “Which could also incorporate Hangyul’s idea.”

Wooseok mouthed the name as if he was testing it. It rolled off his tongue so easily, as if it was familiar to him. It was like calling a friend’s name, like addressing something he’d had for a long time. He didn’t realise it at first, but it was because he _had_ had it for a long time. That thing was his team. And the name came so naturally because it felt like it had been made for them.

“I like it,” he said.

“How about we vote?” Seungwoo asked, “All those in favour of X1 raise your hands.”

Twelve hands shot up in the air at once. The boys and their coach looked at one another and at Eunsang, and they all smiled. This was it.

Now they were ready.

“It’s settled then,” Junho said, “We are X1.”

“It’s perfect,” said Yohan, emotionally.

“Can we do a group cheer then?” Dongpyo asked, “Our first one?”

“Alright!” Seungwoo agreed happily, “Everyone gather around! You too, hyung!”

The eleven volleyball players and their coach stood in a circle, close together. The leader was the first to stretch his arm to the centre of it and the rest copied him so their hands rested on top of one another.

“I’ll say ‘X1’ and then we’ll all say ‘fighting’, does that sound good?” Seungwoo asked.

Eleven heads nodded enthusiastically in response.

The leader looked at them, at his precious teammates and his coach who they owed so much to, and smiled.

“X1!”

“Fighting!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bittersweet 😢 Sorry haha. I hope January 6th treated you all well and it wasn't too hard. Even if it did, I can assure you that I cried too so you're not alone.  
> On a lighter note, thanks for reading. Let me know your thoughts and feeling and come be moots on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/jinnius_lek).  
> Updates will be slower after this because university is starting again and I'll have exams to study for plus other projects so I apologise in advance.  
> I love you all and our boys so so much. Have a lovely day/night~


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